The Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) welcomes the start of the amicus curiae hearings on 1–2 September in Cape Town, an important milestone in our ongoing constitutional challenge to South Africa’s criminalisation of sex work. This litigation, initiated in 2021 by a brave sex worker (S.H) and SWEAT, challenges the constitutionality of the […]
The Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) celebrates a historic step forward for sex workers in South Africa. The National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) has issued a moratorium on the prosecution of sex workers until the conclusion of the ongoing strategic litigation case which challenges the criminalisation of sex work. This decision —
In 2022, the government promised to change the laws that criminalise sex work by introducing a Decriminalisation Bill. But progress has been slow. The Bill hasn’t moved forward, and in the meantime, sex workers continue to face arrests, fines, violence, and stigma — just for doing their work. After years of delays and no clear
