Prostitution as the exploitation of women and a violation of women’s human rights

Oppenheimer, Emily

Prostitution as the exploitation of women and a violation of women’s human rights

Master Thesis

2014

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Public Law

Faculty

Faculty of Law

Abstract

This thesis draws attention to South Africa’s shift in perspective of prostitution as a criminal offense to a human rights concern. This thesis addresses the proposed adult prostitution legal reforms in South Africa. These models are analyzed and evaluated in order to discover which model best upholds international standards of human rights. International best practices and prostituion legislation in other parts of the world are used to depict current successes and failures. However, concern has been raised if certain legal reforms could succeed in a sociocultural context such as South Africa. This thesis seeks to investigate prostitution within the sociocultural context of male power and female oppression in South Africa. Prostitution is revealed as the exploitation of women and a violation of human rights. It is concluded that South Africa’s context of pervasive violence against women is not unique, but a reflection of a global view of women. The Nordic model is the human rights model that is recommended for South Africa. This model is not only able to improve the sociocultural status of women, but also penalize the demand for female sexual labor, which is considered the primary force behind the sex industry.

Description

Includes bibliographical references.

Keywords

Social Justice

Reference:

Collections

Masters

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