Sex Work Industry: briefing by SWEAT; Female Homicide of Abusive Partners: briefing by CSVR

JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE ON IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF WOMEN
2 June 2006
SEX WORK INDUSTRY: BRIEFING BY SWEAT; FEMALE HOMICIDE OF ABUSIVE PARTNERS: BRIEFING BY CSVR

Chairperson: Ms M Morutoa (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Sex Work and Trafficking-Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce experiences
Imprisonment of women and girls in Gauteng
Costing the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act (No.116 of 1998)
Violence and Abuse in lives of women and girls incarcerated at three Gauteng women's prisons

Relevant documents:
The sex work industry in South Africa
Policing sex workers
Memorandum to Departments of Justice and Safety and Security and the Committee
National study of female homicide in South Africa

SUMMARY
The Committee was briefed by the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) on the need to legalise sex workers. but it was disappointed that the delegation did not include a single sex worker who could share personal experiences with the Committee. The organisation was also criticised for working mainly in the Cape Town metropolitan area, while Parliament was a national body. The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation received a much better response from the Committee which felt that its presentation came at an opportune time for inclusion in some of Parliament’s debates.

MINUTES
The Chairperson welcomed Members of the Committee as well as guests and delegations.

Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) presentation
The Director of SWEAT, Jayne Arnott, gave background to the organisation. She spoke about the laws affecting sex workers, who sex workers are and the current issues facing them. There had been complaints about police behaviour as some members of the police service were alleged to have solicited sex from the workers in return for not arresting them. Outdoor sex workers suffered the most from police harassment as they were more exposed than the workers who traded in their homes or brothels.

SWEAT argued for the decriminalisation of sex work. If this happened then those workers in brothels would also benefit from labour law and would get pensions when they retired. The Department of Labour would also monitor working conditions and the sex workers would be treated with the same dignity afforded to other workers under the Bill of Rights.   

Discussion
Ms B Ncgobo (ANC) asked if SWEAT had been able to get the sex workers to agree to voluntary counseling and testing? Did they have problems with brothel owners?

Ms X Makasi (ANC) stated that it should have been sex workers themselves presenting to the Committee. It was problematic that non-sex workers were speaking on their behalf.

Ms J Semple (DA) asked if the people SWEAT had interviewed had been doing sex work voluntarily? Had they not been forced? A lot of people were concerned about legalising sex work.

Ms Arnott responded that SWEAT had created a pamphlet tailored for sex workers. There had been a lot of work done on the prevention side. Because sex work was unlicensed, it was easy for people to run brothels. Some applied for licences to run massage parlours and then ran them as sex businesses. SWEAT worked closely with the sex workers and understood their issues. Some did not want to be helped because they did not want their families to know what they did. She welcomed the suggestion that sex workers should present to the Committee. SWEAT did not promote selling sex. Whatever law existed, there would always be people willing to sell their bodies. It was not an attractive job and if it was decriminalised and regulated, a lot of these questionable indoor facilities would close.

The Chairperson stated that she had concerns about elderly women who continued to work as sex workers. The SWEAT demographics also did not deal with the racial aspect. Did SWEAT work with other provinces?

Ms S Mabe (ANC) asked if SWEAT was in the industry themselves because she was interested in hearing from the sex workers themselves. Where were these indoor activities taking place and what about dependants? Did the sex workers benefit the country in any way, and if not, why should they be entitled to pensions?

Ms D Morobi (ANC) asked if SWEAT checked male sex workers who were sodomising kids on the streets.

Ms N Ngele (ANC) asked if the police could not help the sex workers. There was a hotel in Proes Street in Pretoria where they sat outside and exposed themselves all day long. Did they work for themselves?

Ms Arnott responded that the demographics of the country were reflected in the sex industry. Most sex workers were black. She stated that SWEAT worked in the Cape Metropole. It was a small non-governmental organisation (NGO) that was struggling to get funds and would love to do its work around the whole country. They however networked with other groups. They had established the Carltonville and Impala projects. They were also working with the Hillbrow project. All these had been part of the Sisonke Movement. They were of the view that they should support another sex worker-led movement instead of starting another SWEAT in those areas. There was also a responsibility on government to attend to these matters.

Ms Arnott added that indoors activities took place in brothels and so the dependants of the sex workers were not really exposed. SWEAT knew of sex workers that had been arrested over weekends and were denied a phone call even to arrange day care for their children. The sex industry was a business and there was much potential tax benefits for the country. Individual workers could be made to pay tax. SWEAT could not be everywhere and could not follow up all other issues. Police responded with by-laws because it was the easiest option. Other issues included entrapment and having to find people in the act. Male sex workers called themselves rent boys but she had never come across sex workers abusing street kids.

The Chairperson stated that a national perspective was required. The Department of Justice was supposed to have been present today. It seemed that they were not focusing on the Committee.

Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) briefing
Ms Lisa Vetten stated that CSVR had visit prisons in three provinces: Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal and the Free State. They had encountered women who had killed their abusive husbands. Such women should not be treated as if they were in the same category as ordinary murderers and they had applied for them to receive presidential pardons. Last year, Elsie Morare was the first woman in such a case to be released. Ninety-six women around the country had been identified and hopefully all would be released this year.

Discussion
The Chairperson asked about men who killed their wives?

Ms N Nxumalo (ANC) asked how safe protection orders were.

Ms W Direko (ANC) asked what the criteria for parole board membership were.

Ms Ncgobo asked to what extent had withdrawal of cases of abuse by women against their partners been happening?

Ms Mabe asked what the situation was when a protection order had not been countersigned by the respondent.

Ms Vetten responded that protection orders were problematic. The police had not been properly trained in this area. It was a big problem if the respondent did not sign the order because he could then maintain that he never saw it. One in three women in maximum security never saw their children. Other women were in prison because they were poor and could not afford to pay their fines. There had been very few breaches recorded. She did not know how many withdrawals there had been.

Ms X Makasi (ANC) stated that the Committee needed to do oversight visits to prisons and come up with recommendations.

The Chairperson thanked Ms Vetten on behalf of the Committee. She mentioned that Ms Vetten had simplified issues and provided good background. Her research would be useful in the debates that were taking place.

The Chairperson added that there had been difficulty in convening the meeting and the Committee needed to consider a working group or management committee to deal with scheduling issues.

The Committee adopted previous minutes and a committee report.

The meeting was adjourned.