Do not submit to gentleman’s clubs demands on sex work, Catholic Voices says

Women are not ‘perks’ for Malta’s internationalization, lay Catholic group tells government on trafficking and prostitution reform

Photo by Eric Nopanen on Unsplash
Photo by Eric Nopanen on Unsplash

A government reform aimed at curbing human trafficking is not calling prostitution “intrinsically wrong”, said a Catholic lay group which has come out against any attempts at regularizing sex work.

Catholic Voices Malta submitted its position paper on the Human Trafficking and Prostitution Reform launched by the parliamentary secretariat for reforms, saying that prostitution should remain a criminal activity but prostitutes themselves decriminalized.

But they also said that strip clubs and similar operations should not be licenced, arguing that notions “ethical recruitment” would not simply decriminalise prostitution, but regularise some forms of prostitution into regular working activity.

“If a prostitute is a victim, and for this reason we agree to decriminalise, the prostitute remains a victim even after we manage to remove the stigma [and] regularise prostitution, and create so called ethical standards of recruitment. If prostitutes are victims, they are victims whether they have been trafficked or whether they enter prostitution for other circumstances, even if these are purely economic,” Catholic Voices said in a statement.

But the group said that prostitution violates “the human right principle of human dignity” and is urging the government not to be subjected by the economic demands of so called Gentlemen’s Clubs “who claim that Malta’s internationalisation necessitates the availability of such services. Women can never become ‘perks’ for an industry.”

Catholic Voices said the reform should be closer to models that reduce and reintegrate prostitutes in dignified employment, and have full respect for the fundamental human rights principle of human dignity, like the Swedish Model.

“The dignity of a person goes beyond providing a way out of prostitution; we need to create a culture of unacceptance of the objectification of a woman’s body, the provision of education and work opportunities that value the contribution of the person and provide a source of fulfilment in the alternative work a former prostitute does, rather than continue facing degradation and humiliation to survive.

“Prostitutes should be decriminalised, but prostitution should remain a criminal activity, with heavier sanctions being placed on persons found guilty of trafficking human persons, operators of clubs and outlets that host trafficked persons, pimps and persons seeking the services of a prostitute.  This clearly implies that strip clubs and similar operations should not be licenced and the concept of ‘ethical recruitment’ withdrawn.”