Sex workers: We have rights

2003-10-24 22:04

Yvonne Beyers

Cape Town - Sex workers also have rights, they are also workers, said Jayne Arnott, director of Sex Workers in South Africa (Sweat) at a national congress.

The congress, held in Worcester this week, drew about 70 sex workers from around the country. A new national organisation, Sisonke, for people in the industry, was also established.

Arnott said the new organisation's aim was to decriminalise sex work.

"Sex workers want to air their problems and ideas and have a say" in new laws that affect the industry, she said.

"We are not asking for the legalisation of the industry where special measures are established - measures that will lead to a legal and an illegal industry. Instead, we are asking for the decriminalisation of the industry so that it no longer functions underground," she said.

Vivienne Lalu, Sweat's training co-ordinator, said that Sisonke would also offer training and support to sex workers.

"Sex workers need, for example, to be trained on what their rights are when arrested," she said.

Sabrina, a sex worker and a member of Sweat, said up to 20 sex workers were arrested in certain parts of Cape Town daily.

Arnott said there was no way to determine just how big the industry was in South Africa.

- Die Burger