The female body is not a commodity – It is not for sale or purchase
Today we have submitted a Draft Bill with which we are seeking the modernization of the Penal Code and more specifically the section that was wrongly for so many years referred to as “Criminal Offences against Morals”. With this Draft Law, we are seeking to equate the references and penalties with regards specific offenses, respectively with special legislations that have been approved in recent years. At the same time, we are eliminating anachronistic approaches within the penal code that separate offences for boys and girls.
Our proposal includes a provision criminalising the purchase of sexual services, in line with what applies in other countries and the experience of the Scandinavian model on this matter. This proposal is in no way directed against women and men who are either driven by socio-economic conditions or physical coercion pushes them into prostitution.
Firstly, we recognize that prostitution is interlinked with violence. This is not the “oldest profession” as many would say, but it is the oldest form of violence practiced against women.
Secondly, we recognize that coercion doesn’t just involve the use of physical force, but also socio-economic impoverishment, in which resorting to prostitution is presented as a “choice” of women.
Thirdly, all studies, research, reports from the Police and NGO’s link prostitution to the trafficking rings. Even in cases where women enter prostitution “voluntarily”, within a short period of time they are trapped in the trafficking rings. That’s precisely why we’re targeting the demand in order to combat trafficking of people rings as well.
Fourthly, which is extremely important for us: the criminalisation of the sexual services market sends out a strong message, especially to the younger generations: The female body is not a commodity. It is not for sale or purchase.
The criminalization of the sexual services market, however, cannot stand alone. Serious work is needed on the part of the Government itself. We need an exit plan that will support multifaceted resources effectively and without restrictions on those women and men who choose to escape from prostitution. The magnitude of the plan will also reveal the state’s determination to get at the exploiters, not the exploited – the traffickers and merchants, not the victims
Statement by AKEL MP Skevi Koukouma on the tabling of a Draft Bill