Fresh push to decriminalise sex work
Baboki Kayawe | Thursday August 31, 2017 16:31
In a meeting with religious leaders, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people and their activists, the sex workers provided intimate details of their trials and tribulations, and made the case for the legalisation of their profession.
Prominent human rights lawyer, Uyapo Ndadi said the fight for decriminalisation was increasingly pointing towards the need to find a solution within the legal system.
“Former President Festus Mogae made a very honest statement when he said that while he supported the move, he had not declared this during his tenure out of concern for votes.
“Now, those in power today are using the same excuse to say they don’t want to touch the issue because they’ll lose elections.
“In Botswana, elections are not driven by principles, or issues, but rather people’s support for parties.
The ruling party would not have lost even if it decriminalised sex work.
“Since we can’t decriminalise sex work and homosexuality through our Members of Parliament, we will have to approach the court,” he said.
In an interview that went viral globally, Mogae was quoted saying laws in many African countries dehumanised those at the highest risk of HIV/AIDS, such as sex workers, LGBT people, those who use drugs, prisoners, and migrants. “Rather than providing protection, these laws render these sections of our societies much more vulnerable to HIV and unnecessary deaths due to AIDS related illnesses,” Mogae is quoted as saying.
Ndadi said there was hope that a court process would change the laws, which he described as “silent and non-implementable”. The human rights lawyer added that the registration of Lesbians, Gays & Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO) through a court order, had given hope that such laws would be lifted.
Apostle Godknows Rubi, who was part of the panel discussion, condemned the argument that most people are pushed into sex work by poverty. “These people must take advantage of policies and programmes meant to alleviate poverty. Sex workers and homosexuals are lost souls and practices such as sex work are disheartening as women are used as commodities.
“They are not respected, have no integrity and are relegated to second-class citizens in the process,” he said. He added: “We need to give these people support. We need to speak to their spirituality in order for them to heal because if a person is hurt money won’t heal them”.In response, Ndadi said sex workers deserve respect under the law because “respectable people in Parliament, in boardrooms and people who appear on television derive satisfaction from the work they provide”.