Women’s group says no to decriminalizing prostitution

CEBU, Philippines - Decriminalizing prostitution is tantamount to promoting violence.

This was according to women’s rights organization, Gabriela, which strongly opposed the current proposal of the Philippine Commission on Women to decriminalize prostitution in the Philippines based on the recommendation of the United Nations.

 Leny Ocasiones, Gabriela Cebu Chapter chairwoman, said they are totally opposed to the proposal of PCW since it is not the answer to eliminate the problem of prostitution in the country, regardless if it is just on decriminalization and not legalization that PCW is pushing for.

According to a national news report, PCW Executive Director Emmeline Versoza said they are advocating for the decriminalization of prostituted persons in order for them not to be arrested, treated and fined like criminals, given that they are victims of exploitation themselves.

The PCW based their proposal on the recommendation of UN to decriminalize prostitution to help curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

According to the cited problems of criminalizing prostitution, it “fuels stigma and discrimination, limits access to sexual health services, condoms and harm reduction services; and adversely affects the self-esteem of sex workers and their ability to make informed choices about their health.”

Ocasiones said that personally she is very supportive of the causes of UN, however this recommendation  cannot be applied in the country and would only promote suppression to the rights of women.

She added that in the Philippines, health centers are made available to anyone, even to those with sex-related jobs, and that promotion of a healthy sexual life is being intensified.

However, Ocasiones said that this is not the main solution. She said that the main problem is how to alleviate the problem of prostitution in the country and that it can be solved by providing other opportunities for women to make a living.

“We from Gabriela are opposed to it because we firmly believe that prostitution is the result of lack of opportunities and employment prompting women to sell their bodies. Decriminalizing is tantamount to  accepting that we cannot provide opportunities for our women and that it’s ok that they have to sell their bodies.”

 She said that even with the emerging women’s empowerment movement that have paved the way for women to be given equal chance for jobs of those initially affiliated to men, she said that discrimination is still adamant and that the perception of “women to stay in the house while men work” is still applied by a lot of people.

Cebu Vice Governor Agnes Magpale, co-chairwoman of the Provincial Women’s Commission, said that she also believes providing other means of employment is the solution to lessen the number of women who consider prostitution as the answer to poverty.

Magpale said that this is a personal opinion though as she has not met yet with the PWC following the issues raised on her role in the commission.

Regardless of this, she explained that this is why they have continuously fought against prostitution before since the victims did not see any other means to provide for their families.  She said that when women were rescued from the controversial lingam massage parlors years back, they provided training in legitimate massage services like Shiatsu and Swedish in order for the victims to continue on earning.

Ocasiones of Gabriela said that they do not have the updated numbers of those in prostitution for this year compared to the previous years but they continuously see a “steady increase” in numbers.

Further, Ocasiones said that if the proposal for the decriminalization is continued, they will have petition campaigns, hold rallies and other activities to bar the proposal from getting through.

She said that this proposal was also brought forward in the previous years and was also turned down due to the opposition of a number of sectors against the decriminalization.  — (FREEMAN)