It was a momentous day for South Australia when last night the Honourable Nicola Centofanti MLC put her Prostitution Law Reform Bill to a vote. According to the Honourable Clare Scriven, this was the first time that such a bill had been put to a vote in an Australian parliament.
The Honourable Nicola Centofanti led the debate in which well researched evidence was presented in speeches by the Honourable Clare Scriven, the Honourable Jing Lee, the Honourable Laura Henderson, the Honourable Sarah Game, the Honourable Heidi Girolamo, the Honourable Frank Pangallo and the Honourable Ben Hood who all supported the Bill.
Labor Minister Scriven correctly identified this Bill as an issue of gender equality. She argued that prostitution is violence against women and that in our society it is not acceptable for men to use women as commodities who can be bought.
The intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the opponents of the Bill was exemplified in the speech by the Honourable Russell Wortley. He astonishingly dismissed the murder of 18 prostituted women in Germany on the basis that people die in industrial accidents in Australia. He was therefore willing to accept the murder of prostituted women as an occupational hazard. While not only being abhorrent, this totally contradicts the rhetoric of the pro-decriminalisation lobby who purport that decriminalisation will make prostitution safer for women.
While the Bill was defeated by one vote at 9 votes to 10, WEEP considers that the evidence and momentum for change is in the favor of implementation of the Equality model of Prostitution Law Reform.
WEEP commends the Honourable Nicola Centofanti for her efforts and we call on the South Australian parliament to pass an Equality Bill of Prostitution at the earliest opportunity.
Contact: Amanda Brohier
President
WEEP Inc.
Phone: 0407390626