 |
|
|
|
|
Christian
News
* CFT RESPONSE TO PROJECT 107: ADULT PROSTITUTION - We have looked long and hard at all the options regarding the “general proposals” and the “four law reform options” contained in your Project 107. Your workshops and hearings have been attended by our members. The Law Commission’s other documents and some of the points raised by your representatives at the public hearings, as well as the various debates where groups like SWEAT and anti-decriminalisation organisations, have voiced their opinions, have been taken into consideration. We have also taken the time to study the same issue in other countries, especially where it has been decriminalised and also where there have been reversals (“recriminalisation”) of the same laws. Various members of our organisation (we have about 90,000 members in South Africa) have been involved in researching this topic for years and have closely followed the evolution of the arguments and some of the consequences of various legislation similar to those proposed by the Law Commission and groups like SWEAT. We have taken note of the following: 1. The decriminalisation of Prostitution has not been successful
in protecting women and children in those countries where this has happened. Various
Governments have reviewed older legislation which allowed Prostitution and they have made
severe changes to their laws. Sometimes, the changes were more in emphasis (who should
bear the brunt of the laws against Prostitution. As you are well aware, Sweden has decided
that men should be more severely punished than the women involved) In some cases there has
been reversals of laws. Thus, the Recriminalisation of Prostitution is now the direction
of discussion in Norway, USA, New Zealand, Germany, among other countries. This new
direction gives the Law Commission the ideal opportunity to learn from the many years of
experience of legalised Prostitution and the reasons for other country’s doubts and
changes to laws. We therefore propose, in respect to your “general
proposals” and “four law reform options”, the following: (By Margrit Olsen, and Fano Sibisi, CFT News) (to index) * WOMEN MARCH TO OPPOSE LEGAL PROSTITUTION FOR 2010 - A CONCERNED group of women has opposed the proposed legalising of prostitution in 2010, saying it “destroys the youth”. In a memorandum presented to the KwaZulu-Natal premier’s office yesterday in Pietermaritzburg, the women said it is a “shame that South Africa is prepared to sacrifice [its] own daughters to earn foreign money”. There has been an ongoing debate on the issue of legalising prostitution in the country to cater for tourists during the 2010 World Cup. This was proposed in parliament by ANC MP George Lekgetho in January this year. More than 200 young women and men from different churches in the KZN midlands marched through the city yesterday to the premier’s office where they handed over the memorandum. Thandazile Buthelezi, the organiser of the march, said young people decided to take a stand against the proposed legalising of prostitution. “It destroys the youth; girls get involved in selling their bodies, but they don’t realise that they are breaking up families, getting hooked on drugs or infected with STIs or HIV and trauma.” She said prostitution is the worst form of abuse because it leaves women traumatised and degraded. “If prostitution becomes a legal profession, then young girls will see no reason for acquiring education, and if there is no education, we will have no doctors, engineers and teachers. The worst thing about prostitution is that it promotes human trafficking: our children will be hijacked for prostitution.” In retaliation, sex workers in the city accused the group of being hypocrites. Said a sex worker who operates from East Street: “None of those people (protesters)has ever tried to find out why we are doing this job. Jobs are scarce, especially if you are uneducated — if you get a job you are likely to become a sex slave for your boss. And the only option is to quit and become a sex worker to feed your children. “We are vulnerable, we need the law to protect us like all citizens of this country,” Another sex worker said that whether prostitution is legal or not, she will continue working. “Why should we be denied the benefits of World Cup?” she
asked. * MINISTER WANTS VARSITY CHANGES - Education Minister Blade Nzimande has said university curricula should become more "revolutionary" and less liberal in line with the country's developmental needs. Nzimande, who is also SACP secretary-general, on Thursday told members of the Health and Education Workers' Union, Nehawu, that he would back the idea of a national curriculum summit where such changes could be discussed. "What has happened is sometimes academic freedom has been used to block transformation. Academic freedom has been used to block curriculum changes," said Nzimande. He warned against a "human rights fundamentalism" where human rights, including the principle of academic freedom, were used by "the elite classes" as an excuse to block transformation. A "revolutionary approach" in education had to be defined. "Increasingly, the thinking around education in our country has been dominated by a neo-liberal approach, at worst, and, at the very best, a liberal approach," he said. "And some of the difficulty is that this has turned education into a marketplace, where you can do well, and that's good; or else there are those that do not do so well, but that is the 'market'. There is not a single capitalist idea that can address the problems that we have in the country." Instead, these "capitalist ideas" were what had caused
the global economic crisis.
* ABORTION IS LATEST CONTROVERSY IN HEALTH OVERHAUL, USA - Democratic lawmakers opposed to federal funding for abortions said Tuesday the House leadership's health care bill contains a "hidden mandate" that would allow taxpayer dollars to be used to end pregnancies. It's the latest controversy to hit the health care overhaul in a week that has seen Republicans sharpen their attacks and some Democrats start to waver on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority. Abortion is not mentioned in the 1,018-page bill that Democratic leaders hope will be approved by the last of three House committees this week. Supporters of the legislation say that means the bill is neutral. But abortion opponents say the bill's silence is precisely the problem. Without an explicit prohibition on federal funding for abortion, it could be included in taxpayer-subsidized coverage offered through the health overhaul plan, abortion opponents say. "We cannot support any health care reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan," a group of 20 Democratic representatives said in a June 25 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. When the legislation was unveiled last week, it failed to include language abortion opponents were seeking. Now they are going public. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who helped draft the letter to Pelosi, plans to join lawmakers of both parties Wednesday at a news conference to criticize the legislation. The Supreme Court has established a woman's right to abortion, but federal law prohibits government funds from being used to pay for the procedure in most cases. However, nearly 90 percent of employer-based private insurance plans routinely cover abortion. The Democratic health overhaul plan envisions setting up a new health insurance marketplace — called an exchange — through which individuals and businesses could get coverage similar to what's now available for employees of large companies. Government subsidies would be available for individuals and families making up to four times the federal poverty level. Abortion rights supporters say prohibiting plans in the exchange from covering the procedure amounts to taking away a right that women now have. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is trying to find a compromise, but that may not be easy. Not only do abortion opponents want to block funding, they also want to make sure that the procedure is not included in the benefits package. Separately, another group of lawmakers wrote Pelosi on Tuesday urging a compromise that would leave the decision on abortion coverage up to insurers doing business in the exchange, but forbid the carriers from using any dollars from federal subsidies to pay for ending pregnancies. "This solution maintains the current status quo in the private market — where insurance companies can choose whether to include this coverage in their plans and individuals can choose which plan (and what sort of coverage) fits their individual needs and values, while ensuring that no federal funds are used to pay for abortions," said the letter from Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, and three other Democrats. However, it's unclear whether insurance companies could keep federal subsidies separate from other funds they receive from individuals and employers to cover premiums. In the Senate, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus vowed that he would not let abortion controversies "embroil" the health care overhaul. "Health care reform is not about that issue at all," Baucus, D-Mont., said Tuesday. He said the Senate plan would be "neutral — status quo." Obama, who supports abortion rights, sidestepped a question on the
brewing controversy. "Rather than wade into that issue at this point, I think that
it's appropriate for us to figure out how to just deliver on the cost savings and not get
distracted by the abortion debate," the president said in an interview with CBS News. * UGANDA RESISTS PRESSURE ON GAY RIGHTS - Uganda would resist pressure from donor countries to soften its stance on homosexuality and planned to pass a law that significantly clamped down on gay rights, Ethics Minister James Nsaba Buturo has said. "I have been receiving a number of friends from outside Uganda telling me that we should go slow on the rights of people who promote anal sex," he said. "And I'm telling them, 'Well, if you in your countries you've chosen to promote anal sex, that is your business, but leave us alone'." Buturo said donors had threatened to withhold financial support if Uganda did not alter its position. The government was finalising a draft law curbing the promotion of gay rights, he said. Buturo has also called for a ban on miniskirts. * NORTH KOREA 'EXECUTES CHRISTIANS' - Human rights groups in South Korea say North Korea has stepped up executions of Christians, some of them in public. The communist country, the world's most closed society, views religion as a major threat. Only the founder of the country, Kim Il-sung, and his son, Kim Jong-il, may be worshipped, in mass public displays of fervour. Despite the persecutions, it is thought up to 30,000 North Koreans may practise Christianity secretly in their homes. A report by a number of South Korean groups highlights one particular case of a woman allegedly executed in public last month, in a northern town close to the Chinese border. She was accused of distributing Bibles, spying for South Korea and the United States and helping to organise dissidents. Her parents, husband, and children were sent to a prison camp. Such reports are hard to verify, but North Korea is known to be intolerant of religion - it views any form of alternative social organisation as a competitor for its own, religion-like ideology. The US government says just owning a Bible in North Korea may be a cause for torture and disappearance. Pyongyang's position appears to have hardened on everything from human rights to defence policy and international relations in the last year or so. It is thought this may be a way to shore up the government through
Mr Kim's illness and the process of anointing his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as North
Korea's next leader. * COFE OFFERS WEDDING AND INFANT BAPTISM IN ONE GO - The Church of England is to offer engaged couples who already have children an infant baptism service alongside their marriage ceremony. The bride and groom will move from exchanging vows and giving the ring to presenting their child for baptism. Critics warned the plans could “confuse” people about Christian teaching and encourage them to take marriage and baptism lightly. The service was laid out by the Church of England’s liturgical commission. Its chairman, the Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Revd Stephen Platten, said: “I don’t think we are condoning cohabitating couples. What we want to do is not to reject them. We want to encourage them to marry to show their commitment to each other and to safeguard a stable society.” However David Phillips, General Secretary of the Church Society warned that combining the services may not be a good idea. He said: “Putting these services together seems unwise. The
proper place for sex is within marriage. That should be what people are taught when
seeking baptism.” * NON-MUSLIMS HAVE CASES DECIDED IN SHARIA COURTS, UK - Sharia courts in the UK are increasingly hearing cases brought by non-Muslims who find the process ‘less cumbersome’ than the English legal system, reports The Times. The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT) says five per cent of its cases now come from non-Muslims attracted by the comparative informality of the system. A spokesman for the MAT, which hopes to triple the number of its Sharia courts in British cities by the end of the year, explained: “We put weight on oral agreements, whereas the British courts do not.” Under the Arbitration Act 1996, Sharia courts can have their rulings upheld by civil courts in England and Wales. Decisions from the tribunals, which often deal with family and
financial disputes, can be presented to a family court judge on a two page form for
approval.
|
|
