Domestic violence czar’s position on sex work riles anti-trafficking coalition

A national debate on Malta’s efforts to legalise sex work has continued to draw divided opinions after Domestic Violence Commissioner Audrey Friggieri said sex workers should be fully regulated at law.

A coalition of anti-trafficking NGOs have accused the government of ignoring submissions against legalising prostitutes and normalising the demand for sex work, without a concerted fight against pimps and human trafficking.

In their latest salvo, the coalition of 40 NGOs took Friggieri to task after saying that by regulating sex work, it maximised prostitutes’ legal protection and their ability to exercise other key rights, such as justice and health care.

“Legal recognition of sex workers and their occupation maximizes their protection, dignity and equality. This is an important step towards de-stigmatising sex work,” Friggieri told The Malta Independent.

She said sex workers who had chosen to work in the industry possessed individual agency and were unlike victims of prostitution. “This is a distinction which the policy makers must keep in mind in this important reform. Both must be protected and empowered,'” she said.

But the coalition is raising concern on how to define the nature of “sex work”, claiming that pimps and traffickers could employ a legal definition so as to gloss over the horrific experience people in prostitution go through.

“This clearly shows her lack of sensitivity to the issue,” the coalition said, which also took issue at her remark that trafficking and sex work were “distinct realities [that] must be addressed in parallel.”

“We reiterate that the prostitution and sex trafficking can never ever be separated and must be looked into together,” the anti-trafficking coalition said. “There would be no trafficking for sex if there was no demand for girls, women, boys, men and trans in prostitution – largely to service men with enough money and power to use them.

“Furthermore, ample scientific research highlights the violence and harm that takes place in prostitution, why are these realities being ignored?  What is the message being sent out there if such sensitive considerations are not being addressed by the Domestic Violence Commission? Is the Commission willing to turn a blind eye to this type of violence and abuse?”

The Coalition agrees with the government’s bid not to criminalise persons caught up in prostitution but says any reform must give such persons a way out, rather than punishing them further.

“We fully support the development of a model tailored to the local environment; however, it must be founded on the unassailable principle of protecting people from harm and ensuring that the industry does not expand as a result. The proposals of the coalition were built on this principle. Why reject a model that is decreasing violence and essentially protecting those in prostitution?”