In Spain, prostitution was decriminalised in 1995 and during decades it has grown into a sector worth several billions of euros. Pedro Sanchez, the socialist Spanish Prime Minister, is now determined to outlaw direct, paid social services between the client and service provider, British public broadcaster BBC reports.
In the EU country, prostitution was decriminalised 26 years ago and in 2016 the UN estimated the country’s sex industry was worth EUR 3.7 billion. Advocates of Spain’s current system believe that it has brought huge benefits to the women working in the trade and made life safer for them. Currently, prostitution is not regulated by law in Spain, and there is no punishment for those who offer paid sexual services of their own will unless they are offered in public spaces.
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Over the past years, significant concerns have grown around the potential for women to be trafficked into sexual services. In 2017, Spanish police found 13,000 women in anti-trafficking raids and announced that at least 80% of them were being exploited against their will by a third party.
On Sunday, October 17, Sanchez said to supporters at the end of his Socialist Party’s three-day congress that the practice «enslaves» women and promised to criminalise prostitution in the Southern European country, BBC reports.
Spain looks to ban prostitution after sector grows big, controversial in 26 years
