21 December 2017 Press release: For immediate release Issued by Sisonke Sex Workers Movement Sex Workers Celebrate ANC Decision to Decriminalise sex work Sex workers today celebrate a milestone in the fight for our rights. The ANC’s 54th National Conference announced their intention to support the full decriminalisation of sex work. The announcement comes after Sisonke held events in every province from Kimberly to Welkom to commemorate the International Day of No Violence Against sex workers, where over 850 sex workers came together to remember our colleagues lost to violence and stigma. “We don’t want our rights to be written in a resolution, we want them in real life” says Kholi Buthelezi, the National Coordinator of the sex workers movement “now that this decision has been taken, we want action”. As sex workers, we are ready to join the ANC and members of parliament at the table to draft the reforms needed to make this real. We are here, we are ready, and we have been working to ensure sex workers are linked to services they need, that those services do not discriminate and that sex workers are informed, visible partners to fight violence and exploitation. We now need to see a commitment to action from the ANC and its ministers and parliamentarians. “This goes beyond party politics – decriminalisation will change lives and even save some lives” says Zoe Black, a migrant sex worker, an activist and a member of the SWEAT Board. No matter what you think of sex work, people who sell sex are your neighbours, your children, your mothers, your sisters – we deserve your acceptance, respect and the protection of legal recognition just like anyone.

Media Contacts: Kholi Buthelezi: 073 247 9623 Zukiswa Ngobo: 064 737 4785 Shaun Bibi: 066 140 0028 Note: Sisonke is a movement of sex workers by sex workers, independently registered as an NPO in South Africa.