The Justice Department is hoping that its consultations with organizations and representatives that advocate for the decriminalization of consensual adult s.e.x work will start the process to legitimize the industry.
A commission released its report on adult pr0stitution in 2017.
Currently, the buying and selling of s.e.xual services is criminalized in South Africa, while those in the sector still have very little protection and few means of support.
Organizations said that getting rid of penalties that criminalized s.e.x work would keep workers safe from violence and discrimination and hopefully guarantee them full human rights as workers in South Africa.
Deputy Minister in the Justice Department John Jeffery is expected to have several more meetings with different sectors of society, including religious organizations and traditional leaders.
The pandemic revealed some of the flaws in criminalizing s.e.x work after the sector was unable to work under the lockdown, with workers receiving no government support because they were not recognized as legitimate contributors to the economy.
-EWN
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