Prostitutes should be helped to get better jobs and not punished for loitering, according to a doctor who is calling for a more humane approach.
These women and men, who often have a background of abuse, have to be protected, according to Anna Vella, who specialises in women’s health.
But she disagrees with legalising prostitution and regulating it as suggested in a policy paper drafted by the Law Students’ Association.
Sleeping with men or women in exchange for money is not illegal under Maltese law. What is illegal is loitering for prostitution purposes and living off the earnings of the profession.
“Legislation that legalises prostitution is legalisation that legalises abuse of the most vulnerable,” Dr Vella said.
Men and women use prostitution as a means to fund their drug or usury problems, she said, adding nobody hit the streets indifferently. “All tell us of the shame and fear that the work brings along. Yet most of them are not ashamed to admit their drug problem.”
She believes it is not the criminality that is the issue but the loss of dignity that shames them and legalisation will not give prostitutes their dignity back.
After talking with sex workers, through NGOs, she noticed a common thread – they needed to heal their broken inner-selves before getting off the streets.
This point emerged strongly in a court judgment last month in which a court heard how a 34-year-old woman convicted of loitering for prostitution purposes suffered from an eating disorder and depression that led her to take drugs.
Her psychiatrist testified that she went through phases when she lost a lot of weight and others when she gained weight. This yo-yoing in weight was linked to her taking drugs and to the people she was with at the time.
Nobody hits the streets indifferently. All tell us of the shame and fear that the work brings along
Two days later another court judgment highlighted a different reality of the prostitution world: A 30-year-old prostitute and her friend were jailed for three years each for extorting €2,500 from a client in 2007.
Such a case shows that customers can be targets of criminal intentions. However, the prostitutes are often the vulnerable ones. On May 21, three burglars barged into a Gżira house and threatened two women they would slit their throat and burn them alive if they called the police.
One of the two women, a prostitute, was standing at the door waiting for clients when the three men pushed her inside. The three men were arraigned in court.
Law Students’ Association president Dirk Urpani said these examples showed the need to regulate prostitution.
“Regulation would mean better protection for sex workers and for customers,” Mr Urpani said.
The association feels prostitution should be further regulated to include licensing of prostitutes as this would lead to less reluctance to access support services and health services.
Psychiatrist John Mifsud said regulating the world’s oldest profession would help safeguard the health of all concerned.
However, Lorraine Spiteri, who chairs the Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations, disagrees with legalising prostitution.
“Even though the motive for legalising prostitution regarding health issues can be understood, prostitution as a sex industry can never be safe since it often leads to prostitutes experiencing threats as well as physical and sexual violence,” she said.
A Justice Ministry spokeswoman praised the association for raising the subject in the comprehensive report which the ministry was reviewing.
“That debate would, of course, involve various parts of the administration including the police and the health authorities. Therefore any change in the law on prostitution would have to follow a political decision which would, in turn, be based on a consultation process both within government and in a wider social perspective,” she said.
claudia.calleja@timesofmalta.com