Sex and money

There is no more compelling argument than the cliché, “the oldest profession in the world”, to persuade us that the problem of prostitution is unlikely to disappear.

At the same time, it is evident that the legal and social methods of addressing prostitution in South Africa are in acute need of a new direction.

Earlier this month, the Pretoria high court took a first step towards redefining the status of prostitution in law. The court’s reasoning–that the transaction of publicly solicited sex for money between adults is equivalent to private carnal relations for non-monetary favours–may be interpreted as being fundamentally flawed, if not legally then surely ethically. Nevertheless, the court has provided a practical service by re-igniting this important debate.

The court’s ruling, which practically decriminalises prostitution, has inevitably provoked moral outrage, particularly in religious circles. The idea of sex for cash is, mildly put, abhorrent to believers of most faiths. Consequently, the idea of relaxing the legal constrictions on prostitution tends to be met with various degrees of objection.

Yet, a thoroughly pragmatic contribution to the debate has come from as unlikely a source as the Catholic Church.

Last December, the Italian Jesuit magazine La Civilta Cattolica proposed the notion of regulated brothels as a means of confronting some of the evils associated with prostitution. Significantly, the magazine’s contents are reviewed and approved by the Vatican prior to publication.

The Jesuit magazine said that while prostitution should be discouraged as “degrading and contrary to human dignity”, regulated brothels could afford protection against the brutal exploitation of prostitutes. In Italy, as in South Africa, many are controlled by criminal cartels or individual “male protectors” (in common parlance pimps). Within the relatively safe environs of a registered brothel, such women would be removed from their exploiters and the attendant abuse.

The (presumably registered) prostitutes could be offered medical care to reduce the risk of contagion, and receive assistance in identifying new paths in life when they choose to leave their often soul-destroying profession.

In absence of any better plan, La Civilta Cattolica’s pragmatic suggestion may well form the basis for new legislation in South Africa, a country where streetwalkers form a veritable guard of dishonour on many suburban thoroughfares, often in broad daylight and even near schools.

Sex industry legislation must incorporate the interest of society at large, but should not ignore the plight of the prostitute. As Christians we observe that Jesus counted at least one prostitute among his associates.

We may despise their activities, yet are called to see even in the prostitute a fellow sister in Christ.