Decriminalising prostitution would be “a confirmation that women are a commodity and that women’s sexual favours are there for the taking as long as one pays”, the National Council of Women has insisted.
Vice-president Grace Attard said the NCW condemned any attempts to remove penalties for sex workers and supported instead a holistic approach by NGOs, funded by the government, to help women escape the “trap” of prostitution.
“The programme should offer the services of professionals including social workers, psychologists, medical practitioners and legal advisors to reach out to women, taking into account their different circumstances, providing support, social and health services, education, training and job opportunities,” Ms Attard said.
Her comments come in response to a new European Commission study which found that regulating prostitution could help in the fight against human trafficking by reducing the demand for victims of sexual exploitation.
The NCW condemns any attempts to remove penalties for sex workers and supports instead a holistic approach by NGOs
The report recommended shifting criminal sanctions to those that take profits from prostitution and those who purchase sex, while specifically criminalising the purchase of sex from trafficked or coerced people.
The French parliament passed a law last week removing penalties for sex workers, including for public solicitation and making it a crime to pay for sex. In Malta, prostitution is not a criminal offence. Soliciting, living off immoral earnings, organising prostitution or forcing anyone into it is.
Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli has previously said the government was looking at different models applied abroad to see the best way to tackle the situation.
Ms Attard, however, said the two issues of prostitution and human trafficking, even when for the purposes of sexual exploitation, required different legal measures and should be tackled separately.
“It is a shame that in the case of human trafficking, so little, if anything has been done in practice,” she added.
“It is an embarrassment to our political parties that the Council of Europe has so harshly criticised Malta for the lack of the implementation of 16 areas of the Convention on Trafficking of Women for Sexual Exploitation.”