BONELA repeats calls for sex work

BONELA official Annah Chalmas said the move will help sex workers as human beings and give them dignity. Addressing a workshop in Selebi-Phikwe, she stated that sex work must be treated as a labour and economic issue. She asserted that there is great harm in ignoring the sex work community. She regretted the fact that efforts to abolish commercial sex focuses on the moral aspect to make the workers feel guilty. She added that powerful economic and other factors that draw people into sex work tend to be overlooked.

Chalmas said legalising commercial sex work should come with anti-HIV interventions, safer sex negotiations and economic empowerment initiatives for those plying the trade and their clients. "What can also be done is to identify them and ensure that they have access to healthcare, job training, education and opportunity to earn a living wage.