South Africa: Standing With Sex Workers - Why This Case Matters

19 August 2025
Human Rights Watch (Washington, DC)
By Stacey-Leigh Manuel

South Africa Court to Rule on Constitutionality of Criminalizing Sex Work

At the beginning of September, South Africa's Western Cape High Court will hear a case that could finally end the criminalization of sex work in the country. It's a moment decades in the making, which could bring real gains for the safety, dignity, and equality of sex workers.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have joined as amicus curiae, friends of the court, because the evidence in South Africa and globally is clear: criminalizing sex work doesn't make people safer, and it doesn't stop human trafficking. What it does is force sex workers into unsafe, hidden environments, where violence and abuse happen with impunity, often at the hands of those meant to protect them.

Too often, sex work is wrongly conflated with trafficking for sexual exploitation. They are not the same. When we fail to make that distinction, we end up with laws and policies that protect neither sex workers nor trafficking survivors.

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Our research in South Africa shows that decriminalizing sex work:

  • Makes it easier for trafficking survivors to seek help without fear of arrest.
  • Allows sex workers to work together and take steps to protect themselves.
  • Opens the door for sex workers to share critical information that can help stop trafficking.
  • Makes it easier for sex workers to access health care, including prevention, treatment, care, and support for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
  • Reduces violence, exploitation, and discrimination, while strengthening public safety.

Opponents argue that continued criminalization is necessary to combat trafficking. But decades of evidence show how punitive laws drive sex work underground, making trafficking harder to detect and prosecute. Decriminalization, paired with strong anti-trafficking measures, is the proven route to protecting everyone's rights.

This case is about more than a change in the law in South Africa. It, and similar efforts elsewhere, is about whether sex workers will continue to be treated as criminals for consensual work between adults, or whether they will finally be recognized as regular workers entitled to the same rights and protections as any other. It's about dignity, equality, and bodily autonomy.

We stand in solidarity with sex workers, survivor advocates, and all those fighting for justice. The continued criminalization of consensual adult sex work is not justified, and this moment is our chance to end it in South Africa.

As the hearings approach, we call on the public, civil society, and policymakers to raise their voices. Share this message. Join the conversation. Demand change.

Hearings: 1-2 September 2025Hashtags: #DecrimSexWork #DecrimInCourt

Stacey-Leigh Manuel, Deputy Director, Women's Rights Division

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