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Matthew Vella
Women will have to think twice before strolling down in “provocatively indecent” clothing, since they could get charged for loitering if the proposed legal reforms published in the White Paper ‘Towards a Better and More Expeditious Administration of Justice’ see the light of day. Prostitution is unregulated in Malta and still unlawful.
What will indeed constitute such provocative and indecent dress in a society that flaunts skin rather than saintliness is yet to be decided, as new legal reforms are in the offing for harsher penalties in crime connected with prostitution.
It is hoped the reform will combat what is being described as an alarming rise in prostitution offences. Although “still very far” from the level of problems faced in the rest of Europe, “the problem exists and there are places in Malta where prostitution is organised for profit”, the White Paper reads.
However, a proposed redefinition of loitering – aimed at making prostitution a tougher business for pimps and prostitutes – introduces a new subjective element into the law, that of indecent and provocative clothing.
Government is fighting prostitution in a bid to make it harder for traffickers and prostitutes to ply their trade on Maltese streets, in a series of proposals that include charging for loitering, higher penalties for trafficking, and suspending business licenses for establishments which offer prostitution services.
The government wants to add a “new ingredient” to the crime of loitering that is set to change its whole juridical nature – whoever is found to be present in streets or other places well known for prostitution and is dressed in a “provocatively indecent manner” will be found guilty of loitering “without the need of proof of other external actions”.
The amendment would redefine the current White Slave Traffic Ordinance of 1930, which lays down that any person who loiters or solicits for the purpose of prostitution in a public place, will be liable to a maximum term of three months’ imprisonment.
Dr Lynn Zahra, who says she is “all for freedom” and finds prostitution to be “a way of life” for whoever earns a living off it, said she would be ready to challenge any law that goes against one’s freedom of expression.
“I am positive that such a law could be challenged. If I have a client accused of such an offence I will raise a constitutional case against the law. Unfortunately in Malta, people who should know better propose anti-constitutional laws which means the individual has to pay to challenge the law, and I would be very happy to challenge it.”
According to Zahra, the law as being proposed would mean that prosecutors would not need to have any more proof of the intent to practice prostitution: “It is a presumption of an offence that by loitering this would lead to prostitution.”
Zahra was unsparing about the subjective definition that could be given to clothing that is provocatively indecent: “What about magistrates who wear mini-skirts? And who is going to decide what is provocative or not? The judge who is scandalised by little is different from a judge who is indifferent to these matters. This is against one’s right for freedom of expression – fourteen-year old girls scantily dressed inside discos do not consider themselves to be prostitutes.”
Harsh on prostitution
The White Paper justifies its proposals due to the ambiguity that “while everybody condemns the exploitation and trafficking of prostitutes, there is a trend of tolerance towards the prostitution (voluntary?) of certain women.”
The reforms want to address the problem of human trafficking, described as a phenomenon which does not look like it “will soon go out of fashion. The business of prostitution exploits the slavery of poor people, and poverty, especially in certain countries, is still with us. Paradoxically, there is too much income tied to this purchase of women from their country. Internationally these women are being transferred from one person to another, from one country to another, as if they were a piece of merchandise.”
The proposals include making the crime of trafficking humans for prostitution from a country to Malta, as well as the aiding and abetting of such traffic and whoever makes the necessary arrangements for the entry into Malta of prostitutes, even if it is not proved that any financial gain was actually made for such complicity.
An increase in penalties for trafficking is also being proposed. Currently, the trafficking of people from Malta to another country for the purposes of prostitution carry a maximum punishment of four years’ imprisonment, with or without solitary confinement. In the case of the trafficking of persons below 21 years of age, the maximum imprisonment is of six years.
As for crimes committed by persons who knowingly allow prostitution to take place in houses, shops and hotels, it is being proposed that the confiscation of property be added to the penalty, as well as heftier fines.
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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