In South Africa, female sex workers are made to go through humiliations in the hands of policemen. There are reports of instances where policemen will spray peper spray on the womens' private parts and ask them to strip naked for their pictures to be taken naked. This horific treatment of sex workers in the country has force the womens' league of the ruling ANC to make moves towards decriminalising prostitution.
This move will allow sex workers to freely negotiate their businesses freely around the country. According to the word of the country's Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Hlengiwe Mkhize during an interview with BBC "Yes, it may be seen as an unexpected move from us, but we have seen that there is a need to protect women, and that this agenda is not being addressed," she says.
"We made a decision that [prostitutes] are women too, and need protection.
"There is no context here that protects women's rights; there are no special laws, we don't have shelters for vulnerable women and there isn't a network of help for them."
It is the women's league's aim to help women "reclaim their dignity", she says.
"The money we spend harassing and criminalising them could be spent retraining or re-orienting them."
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