News Item

SA: Majority of submissions oppose legalising prostitution

There is good news to report about the submissions that you provided to the Select Committee on the Statures Amendment (Repeal of Sex Work Offences) Bill 2020.

Many of you participated in ACL’s email campaign to oppose the above Bill, and then, the 420 submissions that you made were only counted as one submission by the Committee.

This was a great concern because initially there were more submissions supporting the Bill than opposing it. So, we immediately sent out an urgent appeal for you to make personal submissions.

Thanks to your response the final count was:

Submissions against the Bill: 75 (including the 420 submissions that were counted as one)

Submissions for the Bill: 64

Thank you to everyone who took the time to write a submission. You tipped the scales in our favour!

Here are some of the personal statements that friends like you included in your submissions…  

“….the evidence is clear that prostitution, by its very nature, involves the exploitation of women. It is a shameful thing that in this age we are still considering supporting a practice that objectifies women, strips them of their personhood and views them as merely objects to be traded for the pleasure of others.”

“As a Registered Nurse, I have worked with patients who have managed to rehabilitate themselves from the sex industry. I am yet to meet a former prostitute who did not have an unfortunate life as a young lady.”

“Decriminalisation will only promote women and girls as objects to be purchased and contribute to misogyny, giving more power to punters and not to women. And it will only cause an increase in the demand for this industry, as we have seen in New Zealand since they decriminalised prostitution in 2003.”

It is inspiring to read your words and know that you have been praying about this issue. I know that providing submissions can be challenging, but your voice on behalf of exploited women has been heard. Thank you sincerely for participating in this campaign! 

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