The Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations (MCWO) in a statement today said that it “strongly objects to the proposal made by the by the GU Clinic Consultant to legalise prostitution in order to make it safe.”

“Whilst we can understand that the motive is to encourage women to come forward for treatment and monitoring of their health, prostitution can never be ‘safe’ since as is well known, involvement in the sex industry, often means experiencing threats, and physical and sexual violence.”

The MCWO pointed out that “rather than legalising prostitution we should be following the French parliamentarians who have just voted in new legislation aimed at supporting prostituted persons and considering prostitution as an obstacle to gender equality and a violation of human rights and dignity.

“This new law will address all actors involved in the system of prostitution, in a comprehensive way. Persons in prostitution won’t be criminalised anymore and on the contrary, will be offered alternatives to exit the system of prostitution.”

“The demand for prostitution is recognized as the main driver of the exploitation, and the purchase of sex will therefore be criminalized. The fight against all forms of procuring and trafficking is strengthened, highlighting the links between prostitution and trafficking. Finally, prevention and education actions will be implemented to raise awareness to the reality of prostitution as a form of violence,” the Organisation said.

France has now joined Sweden, Norway and Iceland, whose successful and progressive policies on prostitution are based on the fundamental principles of equality between women and men, human dignity, solidarity and justice.

MCWO Chairperson Lorraine Spiteri said that “women who are being prostituted should be helped to get out of the ring of violence, whilst society should send a strong message that it is the buyer who should be punished not the victims who often find themselves in this ring without much hope of getting out of it.”

“Legalising prostitution is a sign that government and society are ready to commercialise violence at the expense of women. MCWO trusts that this will not be tolerated in Malta today,” Lorraine Spiteri concluded.

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