Sex workers in the Eastern Cape have told of brutality, rape, robbery, humiliation, harassment and a general violation of their human rights at the hands of both police and criminals.
The state says one way to get sex workers off the streets is to give them university bursaries.
The violence happens mostly while they were on the streets at night, they say.
Their stories were aired at a dialogue on sex work hosted on Thursday by the South African National Aids Council (Sanac) in partnership with the state and civil society.
In a rare moment, Mthatha sex workers had the chance to tell their stories in a protected space to the police and public.
They spoke of what it feels like to have nowhere to run, and said both men and women of the police inflicted more pain instead of protecting them.
They demanded full decriminalisation of the trade and protection of their constitutional rights.
Listening to this was health MEC Dr Phumza Dyantyi and SAPS provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga.
“I am victim of both police and criminals. Police confiscated my condoms and used them as evidence that I am a sex worker. They beat me up and had forced sex with me, threatening to jail me if I refused”, said a 27-year-old sex worker who operated in Mthatha.
Sisonke Movement provincial coordinator and Sanac’s Ntsikelelo Shaun Bibi said extreme poverty forced vulnerable women into a profession “where they are at risk of abuse, exploitation and serious health dangers on a daily basis”.
Ntshinga said that police needed training on dealing with sex workers and lambasted criminal activities and police inefficiencies. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
Sex workers lament police brutality
The state says one way to get sex workers off the streets is to give them university bursaries.
The violence happens mostly while they were on the streets at night, they say.
Their stories were aired at a dialogue on sex work hosted on Thursday by the South African National Aids Council (Sanac) in partnership with the state and civil society.
In a rare moment, Mthatha sex workers had the chance to tell their stories in a protected space to the police and public.
They spoke of what it feels like to have nowhere to run, and said both men and women of the police inflicted more pain instead of protecting them.
They demanded full decriminalisation of the trade and protection of their constitutional rights.
Listening to this was health MEC Dr Phumza Dyantyi and SAPS provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga.
“I am victim of both police and criminals. Police confiscated my condoms and used them as evidence that I am a sex worker. They beat me up and had forced sex with me, threatening to jail me if I refused”, said a 27-year-old sex worker who operated in Mthatha.
Sisonke Movement provincial coordinator and Sanac’s Ntsikelelo Shaun Bibi said extreme poverty forced vulnerable women into a profession “where they are at risk of abuse, exploitation and serious health dangers on a daily basis”.
Ntshinga said that police needed training on dealing with sex workers and lambasted criminal activities and police inefficiencies. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
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