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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | On Prostitution, STDs and the Law in South Africa: The State as Pimp |
Authors: | Luiz, John M. Roets, Leon |
Year: | 2000 |
Periodical: | Journal of Contemporary African Studies |
Volume: | 18 |
Issue: | 1 |
Period: | January |
Pages: | 21-38 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | prostitution sexually transmitted diseases AIDS Labor and Employment Women's Issues Law, Human Rights and Violence Politics and Government Health, Nutrition, and Medicine Law, Legal Issues, and Human Rights |
External links: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/025890000111959 http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=XAC23K64LRE8D2G8FT64 |
Abstract: | This article provides an overview of the workings and nature of the sex market in South Africa. It focuses on the mining industry of the Free State Goldfields around the town of Welkom and studies the attitudes and practices of prostitutes regarding sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The STD issue is often used as a rationale for the criminalization of prostitution. The effect is, in fact, to make STDs more difficult to control. The paper demonstrates that prostitution is not just about sex, but more fundamentally about sexual and social equality. Current policy is out of line with the spirit of the South African constitution, which guarantees equality and protection for all. Instead, prostitutes are being abused by the agents of the State with the State's tacit sanction. The incidence of HIV amongst prostitutes has important implications for future regulation. The first step entails the decriminalization and regulation of prostitution. Bibliogr., notes. |