OPINION| Ten reasons why South Africa must decriminalise sex work - Aside from the economic benefits, urgent decriminalisation is needed to ensure constitutional rights of the country’s estimated 153 000 sex workers
sex workers in South Africa. The South African government may greatly benefit from regulating this industry and taxing its operation. It is easier to police a legal trade than an illegal one. Developing administrative law will see sex workers through business and health regulations, fiscal rules and local policies.Most sex workers in South Africa are black, female, and sell sex primarily in order to support their dependents.
These are too many essential rights to limit and not take into consideration when speaking on criminalisation. It equally indirectly contributes to gender inequality because this industry mainly includes womxn, so we are denying many vulnerable and marginalised womxn of their constitutional rights all in the name of legal convictions of the community.