'Sex work law won't protect us, just pimps'

WHILE political leaders argue over the legalisation of sex work in South Africa, the women at the heart of the trade are calling for the country to look deeper.

- ANITA NKONKI

Survivors of sex trafficking and exploitation say legalisation would only cement the suffering they've endured, and that the current debate ignores their trauma, safety, and rights.

Two of these women have shared their experiences of being trafficked, exploited, and stripped of dignity, not by the lack of legal status, but by the very system that would be legitimised through legalisation.

They say that what's needed is not a legal framework that protects pimps and buyers, but urgent interventions that protect women, restore agency, and dismantle the cycles of poverty and abuse that drive them into sex work.

Speaking to the Saturday Star, Abigail, who asked to remain anonymous, talked about her journey. “I did not go into prostitution out of choice. I was trafficked and forced into it. I was held in the situation for five and a half months before I managed to escape. I was taken and held against my will in a house where several other girls were also being kept. I was not allowed to leave. My ID and phone were taken from me.”

She spoke about the deep emotional toll of being forced to expose herself to strangers day after day, how it broke down her sense of dignity, took a toll on her health, and left her completely cut off from her loved ones.