Sisonke, a nationwide sex workers motion in South Africa, says the streets have gotten an much more unsafe working setting for sex workers.
SISONKE WORRIED ABOUT SEX WORKERS IN THE STREETS
This harsh actuality follows the grim discovery of our bodies of girls reported to be sex workers at a panel beating store in Johannesburg on Sunday, 9 October.
“It is an infuriating, yet grim and dark day to Sisonke National Sex Workers Movement in South Africa at the discovery of six bodies at a Johannesburg central panel beating shop.”
Sisonke
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Sisonke says the discovery of those our bodies come after three instances of lacking individual have been opened at John Voster and Sophiatown police stations between July and October 2022. Although the our bodies haven’t been recognized, the organisation claims a variety of sex workers working in the space have confirmed that a variety of girls working in that space have been going lacking.
Sisonke National Coordinator, Kholi Buthelezi mentioned. “At this stage, we hope that the reported three are not among the six bodies found. We remain hopeful that our three are out there somewhere, but alive. God forbid that they are among the six”.
Buthelezi added that for greater than 20 years they’ve been calling for the decriminalisation of sex work, to allow sex workers a safer working setting, however all of that has fallen on deaf ears.
“Each day we are awoken to news of either a missing person or a body which has been found. To us these are not just bodies but another family being deprived of a life and income.”
Buthelezi
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BROTHELS NOT AN OPTION FOR SEX WORKERS
Why the streets, Buthelezi responded that a lot of their members discover it extra handy to be engaged on the streets, slightly than a brothel the place harassment from police officers is rife.
“However, safety on the street is not always guaranteed. It is becoming a norm for people to pose as clients, choose a service provider only to murder them. Often these cases go unreported who work in these conditions also fear for their lives- instead, they either choose a different working spot while hoping and praying for a safe return home,” she lamented.
Civil Society National Sex Work Sector Leader, Katlego Resebitse added: “In our monthly meetups (Creative Spaces) and workshops we hold with our members, we often highlight issues of safety, reporting cases of harassment, police brutality and how to go about opening a case at police stations through the assistance of our human rights defenders. We are aware of numerous cases, not only in Johannesburg of missing persons. It saddens us to know that a number of them have been lost at the hands of someone posing as a client. We urgently calling for the full decriminalisation of sex work to put an end in such things”.
PERSONAL ACCOUNT FROM A LADY OF THE NIGHT
Janet 36: “The streets are becoming the most unsafe place to work in because you’re never sure whatever you’ll be returning after a client picks you up. We remain on the streets because we don’t have to pay brothel owners to rent even when we don’t make money. However, we remain in constant fear as the type of ‘clients’ we find are a lot more dangerous and the chance of returning unharmed are becoming a lot less.”
In conclusion, the organisation additionally revealed that between 2017 and 2019 the Sex Workers Education Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) along with Sisonke, recorded greater than 50 slain sex workers on the #SayHerName report. Others have been both by no means reported or unidentified.
“The numbers are on a rapid rise with more cases of GBV,” Buthelezi careworn.