On 14 September 2024, ProBono. Org had an information desk at the Sex Worker Pride event hosted by the Sex Workers Education and Task Force (“SWEAT”) in Observatory, Cape Town. The event was in commemoration of International Sex Worker Pride Day.
Joined by sex workers, partner organisations of SWEAT and allies, the event was a celebration of the self-determination of sex workers and the achievements of the sex workers’ rights movement towards the decriminalisation and destigmatisation of sex work in South Africa. The event was also a celebration of the diversity within the sex worker community. A live theatre performance by sex workers in which they expressed their everyday lives, experiences and challenges as sex workers in South Africa stole the show.
SWEAT’s ultimate goal is to advocate for the rights of sex workers. Women make up the majority of the sex work industry – many of whom are single mothers who, due to poverty, a lack of education, limited employment options, gender inequality and survival choices gravitate towards sex work to support themselves and their families.
The 2022 Criminal Law Amendment Bill aims to respond to the National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) which requires the criminal justice system to provide protection, safety and justice for GBVF survivors and hold perpetrators accountable. This process includes decriminalising sex work as its continued criminalisation contributes to GBVF by leaving sex workers vulnerable to abuse. It is hoped that the Bill will be enacted in order to afford them legal protection.
Advocating for legal reform in which sex work is decriminalised will allow the livelihoods of sex workers to be under constitutional protection.
