World P4P News

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has pledged to criminalise prostitution in the country claiming that the practice enslaves women.

Prostitution was decriminalised in Spain in 1995 and in 2016 the UN estimated the country's sex industry was worth euro 3.7bn. A 2009 survey found that up to one in three Spanish men had paid for sex. A 2011 UN study cited Spain as the third biggest centre for prostitution in the world, behind Thailand and Puerto Rico. It is commonly estimated that there are around 300,000 women sex workers in Spain.

Prostitution is currently unregulated in Spain, and there is no punishment for those who offer paid sexual services of their own will, as long as it does not take place in public spaces. However, pimping or acting as a proxy between a sex worker and a potential client is illegal.

In 2019, Sánchez' PSOE party published a pledge in its election manifesto to outlaw prostitution, in what was seen as a move to attract more female voters. The manifesto called prostitution one of the cruellest aspects of the feminisation of poverty and one of the worst forms of violence against women.

However two years on from the election, no legislation has yet been tabled. Spanish media report that the PSOE would need to agree on a draft with their left-wing Podemos coalition partners before presenting a bill to parliament, so there is still a long way to go.

The government  of the Australian state of Victorian will move to decriminalise sex work and regulate the sex industry through standard business industry laws following a review that heard the current system left many unprotected.

The review was conducted by the Reason party leader, Fiona Patten, in 2020 and is currently before the state government. The government is expected to release the report and table proposed legislation by the end of the year.

The change would see Victoria join the Northern Territory and New South Wales as jurisdictions that have decriminalised sex work. The consumer affairs minister, Melissa Horne, said decriminalisation was the best option to make sex workers safer and to reduce the stigma and fear of criminal repercussions. She said:

Sex work is a legitimate form of work and should be regulated through standard business laws, like all other industries in the state. Decriminalising sex work in Victoria will ensure it's safe work 203 a basic human right that everyone deserves. We're working towards this as a priority and will have more to say in due course.

Victoria currently has a licensing system for sex work that is regulated by the police. It requires service providers who operate a brothel or an escort agency and sex workers who operate independently to apply for a licence and be registered through the department of consumer affairs. Sex workers who work at a brothel do not have to register.

The move is based upon the realisation that when rules prove too restrictive, and sex workers end up working outside of the rules, then the sex workers are endangered as they are unable to call for help from the police lest they be arrested themselves.

Apple on Monday updated its App Store Review Guidelines to emphasise some existing policies and add new requirements for apps. One of those changes, guideline 1.1.4, bans 'hookup' apps that include pornography or are used to facilitate prostitution.

The revised guidelines, as Pink News noted, would ban overtly sexual or pornographic material, defined by Webster's Dictionary as explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.

Apple's new rules around dating apps won't affect non-sexy platforms like Grindr and Scruff.

The city of Amsterdam said this week it would consider the Haven-Stad district as another possible location for a high-rise erotic center that could serve as an new location for sex work in the capital.

The council does not like the high profile red light area in De Wallen and has previously suggested  seven other locations including Amstel III (Zuidoost), Arenapoort (Zuidoost), Sloterdijk 2 Zuid (Nieuw-West), Sloterdijk Noord (Nieuw-West), Zuid / Rai (Zuid), Hamerkwartier (Noord), Eenhoorngebied (Oost).

In a market survey presented by the Amsterdam Mayor, it was also revealed that the erotic center should have about a hundred workplaces for sex workers, some of which would be windows similar to those in the Red Lights district. The workers will also have access to private break rooms which only the workers can access. Several bookable hotel rooms will be considered for visitors who previously made online appointments. Additionally, two catering establishments, a workspace for medical care providers and erotic entertainment facilities were planned.

A consultancy project will be carried out over the next three months to determine how best to proceed with the project.