South Africa: Sexual Offences Bill altered

Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce Press Statement

7th September 2006 -- 2:30pm Sexual Offences Bill altered just days before finalisation Yesterday, the Justice Portfolio Committee added a new provision to the Sexual Offences Bill effectively aimed at criminalising the clients of sex workers.

This provision has not been subject to public participation along with the rest of the bill and SWEAT, who has been working with sex workers for 11 years, is gravely concerned about the possible wide ranging and extremely prejudicial consequences of including this provision in the current bill.

This provision will impact on the human rights of sex workers. We feel that Parliament would be remiss should it do so without having properly considered the requisite contextual information.

This Sexual Offences Bill has never dealt with sex work. There is a separate Law Reform Commission enquiry and we have been awaiting that report since December 2002. In relation to the current bill, a discussion paper and report was released by the Law Reform Commission followed by extensive public participation in the form of written and oral submissions before the parliamentary portfolio committee.

This was followed by deliberations by the committee where the submissions were discussed.

At no stage have issues pertaining to sex work been deliberated upon nor has there been any form of open submissions or debate on this issue. It is completely irregular for this provision to have been inserted at such a late stage without any regard for due process whatsoever.

The issues pertaining to adult sex work have been recognised by the Constitutional Court as complex and requiring of serious legislative consideration, which in turn requires proper public participation. For such a section to be inserted, and possibly passed, would fly in the face of the recent Constitutional Court decision in relation to the validity of certain provisions in the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act and may well be unconstitutional.

The South African Law Reform Commission separated sections of the Sexual Offences Act relating to adult sex work precisely in order to afford this complex issue a separate review.

SWEAT calls on the parliamentary portfolio committee to remove this proposed provision from the Bill.