‘Sex workers’ rights must be treated as labour rights’

Lesego Makgatho lesego.makgatho@inl.co.za

Prostitution is illegal for client and worker in South Africa. The Cabinet, however, seeks to change that as it recently approved the publishing for comment of a bill that seeks to decriminalise the practice. One of the key reasons the country seeks to decriminalise sex work is because the laws that govern it have always been ineffective. Dudu Dlamini, manager of the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), said sex workers’ rights should be treated as labour rights. “It is 2023, and sex work is still criminalised under the Sexual Offences Act that was drafted during the apartheid era. Sex workers autonomously choose to do this work; they are providers – mothers, fathers, caregivers, taxpayers, and should be treated as such. Sex work must be recognised as work. Sex…

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Sunday Independent (Digital) - 1 Issue, 2023-04-09

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