AN MP says she is sponsoring a Private Members’ Bill to legalise prostitution, claiming it would stop the physical abuse of sex workers and allow for effective strategies to curb the spread of HIV in the “oldest profession”.
Bulawayo East MP Thabitha Khumalo [MDC-T], who sits on the SADC Parliamentary Forum’s HIV/Aids panel, says she is trying to drum up support among legislators for the controversial law reforms before tabling the Bill.
“SADC has set a 2015 target to reduce new HIV infections by 50 percent. There is a popular belief in Zimbabwe that prostitutes are the biggest drivers of the HIV spread, and if that’s the case then we can’t meet our targets without engaging the sex workers,” she told the Voice of America’s Studio 7 on Thursday night.
Khumalo says legitimising the work of “pleasure engineers”, as she called the prostitutes, would allow for a more open interaction with HIV groups and the police to curb both the spread of the disease and stop physical abuse of women.
She added: “We need to find out how they live; what hazards to their personal security they face and any barriers they face in accessing treatment for various health issues including HIV.
“At the moment they face discrimination, denial of access to drugs and many just go underground and that’s dangerous.”
She said a group representing prostitutes met Health Minister Henry Madzorera in Bulawayo recently to make a case for the recognition of their activities.
“They told the Health Minister they want to work and they would be prepared to pay taxes; be tested for HIV and work with health officials on strategies to safeguard their personal health and that of their clients,” she added.
Khumalo admitted, however, that there was no definitive proof that there is a relationship between legalising prostitution and a reduction in HIV infections.
An estimated 1,2 million adults and children are living with HIV in Zimbabwe, but health officials say new infections are on the decline owing to greater community awareness.