In commemoration of Human Rights Month, the Corporate Relations Division invites you to attend an awareness seminar on SEXWORK IN SOUTH AFRICA: IMPLICATIONS FOR SEXUAL VIOLENCE & PUBLIC HEALTH.

According to the Sexual Offences Act 1957 - sex work, brothel-keeping and procuring, and other activities related to prostitution are prohibited. The term “prostitution” is in itself contested. The Open Society Foundation offers that when “sex work” is defined as “work”, one recognises that it is “work”, whilst the term prostitution is considered by majority of sex workers as demeaning and often stigmatises, invariably contributing to judgement, alienation, exclusion from health, legal, and social services. With sex work in South Africa a common practice, our nation faces some of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world – particularly in the sex work industry – with many cases unreported for a variety of reasons.

Following a summit held on 5 March 2018, in response to South African Law Reform Commission's (SALRC) report on adult prostitution,  Sexual Offences: Adult Prostitution, (released in May 2017 by Justice Minister Michael Masutha), recommendations made by Sisonke, the National Sex worker Movement of South Africa and the Commission of Gender Equality among others, was that sex work should be entirely decriminalised and that proper consultations should be made with self-identifying sex workers rather than the perspective provided in the report, which was seen as a morality-based perspective against sex work. What are your thoughts?

Join our panel of experts to learn more.

Lecture outcomes:

• Criminalise or decriminalise sex work, is it the question?
• Reflections on the impact of decriminalising sex work in SA.
• Sex work criminalisation and the sex market in SA - the impact of decriminalisation on sexual violence e.g. reported rape offences, harassment, battering, susceptibility to human and organ trafficking, drug use among sex workers.
• The impact of decriminalisation on health e.g. low condom use, sexual/reproductive health concerns and sexually transmitted infections.
• Reflections on the correlation (if any) between criminalised sex work and the disregard for the rights of sex workers, including arbitrary arrests and senseless killings by criminal syndicates.

Venue: Howard College Theatre, Howard College Campus

Date: 28 March 2018

Time: 12h30 - 14h30

RSVP HERE (best viewed on Firefox or Chrome).

All are welcome

Issued by Corporate Relations