Decriminalization is the safest way for sex workers to work, a sex worker and activist in the field, told the The Malta Independent.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, she said that she has been working in the industry for well over a decade. “Decriminalization gives full service sex workers the freedom to screen and refuse clients and the freedom to move on from sex work into other forms of work,” she added.
In September 2019, the government in Malta announced plans to decriminalize prostitution which led to heated debates on whether prostitution should be recognized as any other job, and to go as far as to criminalize those who buy sex.
“The priority of this reform is to protect vulnerable people and victims from exploitation,” Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms Julia Farrugia Portelli said as she listed the proposal being put forward as part of the reform.
“The change in mentality the government is thinking of is a progressive and revolutionary one. We are saying that the system must stop criminalising vulnerable people who, for one reason or another, might have found themselves with no option other than prostitution,” Farrugia Portelli said.
The debate had since mellowed until, last Sunday, Reforms Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar said that the proposed law to decriminalize prostitution would not make buying sex a crime.
A coalition of 40 NGOs have since come together calling for sex buying to be made into a crime. These groups are under the sway of the Marxist notion that human nature does not exist, people are infinitely malleable, and men can be effectively discouraged from seeking sex.
The Marxist-Faminist version of this idiocy conflates sex work with sex trafficking, just as it conflates sex with rape.
The sex worker agreed that the Nordic Model has its problems. She also said that “sex work and sex trafficking are two completely different things, and many people refer to sex work as sex trafficking.”
With decriminalization in place, sex workers can work alongside law enforcement officials, having the ability to screen their clients and any individuals that may raise any red flags, in relation to sex trafficking.
“Decriminalization of sex work has been introduced in many countries, and statistics have shown that in New Zealand crime/violence has decreased.” She also pointed out that these sex workers have the support and security of the police, when in the past going to police to report rape or threat, would land these sex workers in prison.
“I support full service sex workers, not just because I myself work in the industry, but because sex work is work, and full service sex workers offer many different services,” she said.
“I know full service sex workers who also work with people with disabilities to help provide them with sexual experiences. These sex workers should not be exploited for choosing such a career and the stigma needs to be abolished.”
