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Christian
News
* DIRECTOR GENERAL OF JUSTICE CALLS FOR
DECRIMINALISATION OF PROSTITUTION - Justice department Director-General Menzi Simelane
said recently that "sex workers" need more protection from the law and this
could be provided by decriminalisation – if there is sufficient public consensus. This is worrying, as the Law Reform Commission is to make
recommendations to the Minister of Justice, as well as draw up draft bills on each of the
different legal models, once they have received all the submissions from the public on the
SALRC Discussion Paper. The public has until 30 June to send in a submission. The Minister
will then need to choose which model he believes is the best option. In the Sowetan, Simelane was quoted as having said at a press
conference in Parliament that “the biggest outcry by sex workers is that they are
more harassed for their services from officials than anything else”. Referring to a recent Cape High Court ruling that interdicts the
police from harassing sex workers in Cape Town, Simelane said sex workers “need
greater protection, like all South Africans who need protection under the law. How that
protection can be provided could come by way of decriminalisation – if there is
sufficient consensus”. Gunilla Ekberg in Abolishing Prostitution: The Swedish Solution
comments further: Africa Christian Action wrote the following letter to the Editor
of the Sowetan (letters@sowetan.co.za) in response to Mr Simelane's statement: Sexual intercourse in prostitution as well as the entire
exploitative shady underworld of gangs, drugs, crime and trafficking associated with
prostitution intrinsically involves harm for the prostitute. Sexual acts in prostitution committed by the “customer”
on the women involve humiliation, degrading verbal abuse, physical abuse and exploitation.
There is rarely (if ever) any love, mutual affection or mutual respect involved.
Prostitution can therefore be seen as paid rape. The illusion that prostitution is a choice is manipulative and
deceptive. It allows the buyers and the pimps to obscure the abuse involved and to confer
a form of right on the abuser. The fact that money is exchanged cannot disguise the fact
that what occurs in prostitution, the bodily and psychological violations involved are, in
fact, sexual abuse and harassment and would be seen as such in any so-called ordinary
workplace or social setting. By recognizing prostitution as “paid rape” and therefore
a violation of the right to dignity of women, government and civil society should do their
utmost to discourage women from entering prostitution and to help women escape this
slavery and abuse. If prostitutes are being harmed by the police in any way –
that should be dealt with separately by police officials. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Straatwerk, Inter-outreach and Doctors for Life deal with the real
problems faced by prostitutes and have direct contact with them in helping them to exit
this form of gender-based violence and exploitation. It seems journalists have not
bothered to interview representatives from these ministries, or women whom they have
helped to escape prostitution. The insights gained by these ministries into the causes and
cure of prostitution also need to be represented in the media. The contact details of
these organizations are listed below. The Family Policy Institute has compiled a fact-based summary on
Why Prostitution Must Not Be Decriminalised or Legalised in South Africa, including
extracts from research and news reports gleaned from the Netherlands, Australia, New
Zealand, Germany and Sweden. Organisations that assist prostitutes with discipleship and exit
programmes: 2. Martin Coltman, Doctors for Life International. 3. Marge Ballin - Balm of Gilead Healing Home * AFRICA UNION LAUNCHES NEW CAMPAIGN
AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING - The African Union (AU) has launched a new initiative to
combat human trafficking on the continent. The launch Tuesday came on the same day the
United States added six more African countries to a blacklist of countries trafficking in
humans. Chad, Eritrea, Niger, Mauritania, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe were
added to the list in the U.S. annual report which analyzes the efforts in 173 countries to
combat human trafficking. AU's Commissioner for Social Affairs Bience Gawanas said in an
interview with the VOA that the new campaign aims to eliminate human trafficking,
especially women and children. United States Tuesday added six more African countries to a
blacklist of countries trafficking in human beings. She said apart from the adoption of a plan of action, the fight
against human trafficking was never prominent on the agenda of the African Union.
* FETAL HOMICIDE: ALWAYS TWO VICTIMS OF
VIOLENCE - Sarah Lavato had big plans for her unborn baby boy, Isaac Ray Lovato. Those
plans were destroyed when both Sarah and Isaac were brutally shot to death. The untimely
ending of Sarah’s life, and the death of her baby, ignited public controversy in New
Mexico regarding “fetal status” and “fetal homicide.” This act of
brutality produced questions in the legislative arena as to whether or not Sarah’s
case was, in fact, a double homicide. Radically liberal groups contend that since her “fetus was
not viable,” it would not be considered a double homicide. The reasoning behind this
thinking is that acknowledging an unborn child’s right to life would undermine the
entire pro-abortion movement. Conceding a pregnant woman’s death as a double homicide
would be inconsistent and would take away what the left has been working for so furiously:
to enable women to get rid of their “inconvenient fetuses,” so that they will be
free to live as they please. In most states, laws regarding the issue of violent acts against
pregnant women focus on the harm to the woman, and the child’s rights are not
considered. Leftist organizations such as the ACLU are vehemently opposed to an unborn
child being regarded as an individual with very real and tangible rights. This is
primarily because they believe that the child’s rights would then
“infringe” upon the mother’s rights, which would supposedly reduce her
“privacy and autonomy.” The ACLU openly admits their position by saying that if
fetal protection laws “pose a real threat to reproductive rights, as they often do,
then we must intervene and oppose them.” George W. Bush was firmly convinced that the rights of all human
beings, regardless of size or so-called “viability,” should be fiercely
protected. That’s why he signed The Unborn Victims of Violence Act, also known as
“Laci and Connor’s Law.” This law was introduced following the murder of
Laci Peterson, who was eight months pregnant with her son Connor when their bodies were
found washed up on the San Francisco Bay. Fetal protection laws such as The Unborn Victims
of Violence Act help bring justice to unborn children, who have no voice. A Newsweek poll
released in May 2003 revealed that 84 percent of Americans echo this sentiment of serving
justice and believe that when both the mother and unborn child die the attacker should be
charged “for two murders instead of one.” In 2004, Concerned Women for America (CWA) worked to move people
to action and help give unborn children legal protection and justice by lobbying for Laci
and Connor’s Law. Wendy Wright, then-CWA senior policy director, pointed out that
“Roe v. Wade stripped all unborn children of being recognized in the eyes of the law.
Legislation like Laci and Connor’s Law helps to right this wrong by bringing justice
to little victims of violence.” The most poignant statement on the matter comes from Sharon Rocha,
Laci’s mother, whose unique experience helps her understand the very real pain and
loss of losing a daughter and grandchild and the importance of insisting that justice be
served. Mrs. Rocha finds it difficult to understand “why groups and senators who
champion the pro-choice cause are blind to the fact that these two-victim crimes are the
ultimate violation of choice. … What about mothers who survive criminal attacks but
lose their babies? I don’t understand how any senator can vote to force prosecutors
to tell such a grieving mother that she didn’t really lose a baby — when she
knows to the depths of her soul that she did. This is a question not only of severity but
of justice. … There were two bodies that washed up in San Francisco Bay, and the law
should recognize that reality.” Choice is a loaded concept. What would the child choose? Life,
definitely. And, when life is taken away, justice. For the sake of unborn children,
justice must be served. * WHO CARES? SHE'S JUST A WHORE - How many
of us have passed a prostituted woman on the street, seen one interviewed on television,
or read about one in a newspaper article? Was she human to you - flesh and blood, with a
mind and feelings? Or did you dismiss her because she's just a whore, not worth hearing,
seeing, or understanding? That woman, actually in many cases just a girl, was not born to be
a prostitute. The path into prostitution usually begins in their childhood with sexual
molestation and rape. The overwhelming majority of women and girls in the commercial sex
industry are desperate to get out of it. If their circumstances were different, would they
be a secretary, scientist or senator? When you look at a child, do you see a prostitute? The next time
you see or read about a prostitute, think about the child she once was - or may still be.
That child is scared, hurt, alone, and aching for protection. That woman feels pain,
suffering, shame and despair - and has for many years. In movies and television shows, the prostituted woman is often
angry, violent, drug-addicted, and resigned to the life. Forced to have sex with numerous
men each day - and hand over your money to someone else to boot - wouldn't you be angry?
Beaten by pimps, and traffickers, wouldn't you have violent reactions? Forced to ingest
alcohol and drugs to submit to your first trick, and rely on them to deaden the physical
and psychological pain of this life, wouldn't you become addicted? Abandoned by your
family, scorned by society, and told by pimps you aren't good for anything else - wouldn't
you become resigned? Well guess what? Jesus cares. And as Christians, we should care. Do you care? Jesus tells us we should. Every prostituted woman,
child, and man is made in the image of God. They deserve our care and concern, not our
contempt. Pray for their rescue and restoration - you never know how or where God will use
them for His purposes. * ON A LIGHTER NOTE - “THE LIVING
BIBLE” - His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it,
jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college.
One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes,
jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down
the aisle looking for a seat. About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back
of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way towards Bill.. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to
understand some college kid on the floor? Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the minister gains control,
he says, "What I'm about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen,
you will never forget." "Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read!" (CFTNews) (to index)
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