Whore or Homemaker? the Rocky State of Illegal Prostitution in the Newly-formed South Sudan and a Practical Resolution to Curtail the Epidemic

• Publication year: 2013
• Citation: Vol. 42 No. 1

WHORE OR HOMEMAKER? THE ROCKY STATE OF ILLEGAL PROSTITUTION IN THE NEWLY-FORMED SOUTH SUDAN AND A PRACTICAL RESOLUTION TO CURTAIL THE EPIDEMIC

Brittany Venchelle Sykes^*

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................190

II. BACKGROUND OF PROSTITUTION IN SOUTH SUDAN ......................192

A. The Current Crisis of Illegal Prostitution................................192
B. Existing Mechanisms in South Sudan to Combat Prostitution...............................................................................194

III. TWO COMPARATIVE METHODS OF CONTROLLING PROSTITUTION .................................................................................195

A. Nigeria: A Blend of Prohibition and Decriminalization..........195
B. Netherlands: Legalization........................................................200

1. The Political Shift to Legalize Sex Work............................200
2. The Beneficial Nature of Legal Sex Work as Opposed to Decriminalization..........................................................201
3. Perceived Negative Consequences Resulting from Legalization.......................................................................203
4. The Actual State of Prostitution in the Netherlands..........205

IV. A DRASTIC RECONFIGURING OF SOUTH SUDANESE LAW TO FACILITATE CHANGE ......................................................................207

A. Implementation of a Legalization Scheme in South Sudan......207
B. Challenges Facing the Infant Country.....................................210
C. Benefits of Departing from a Hybrid System of Decriminalization and Prohibitionism.....................................212

V. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................213

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I. Introduction

The Republic of South Sudan, located at the center of the African continent, became the world's newest country on July 2, 2011, with a democratic government after declaring its independence from the northern portion of Sudan.¹ Since South Sudan's birth, prostitution—or sex work, generally defined as engaging in sexual activity as a form of business in return for payment² —has become an issue of great concern within the nation.³ While many aspects of prostitution like soliciting or maintaining a brothel have been outlawed in South Sudan, the practice has grown exponentially over the past few years.⁴ Lax regulation and over-criminalization of prostitution can lead to stigmatization of sex workers, increase in societal violence, spread of diseases, and numerous other negative effects for a community.⁵ If the South Sudanese government hopes to implement any changes to its approach of criminalizing certain aspects of prostitution and slow the growth of or reverse the effects of illegal sex work in the country, immediate action needs to be taken before prostitution becomes an uncontrollable problem for the rookie nation. South Sudan should make the decision now as to whether its current regime of penalizing broad aspects of the sex industry should be continued, or whether these laws should be revised.

Examining the laws aimed at regulating prostitution in other countries and the consequences of such legislation can provide constructive insight as to the route South Sudan should take to curb this growing epidemic. For example, the prostitution regulations in the fellow African country of Nigeria illustrates specific drawbacks that may result from demoralizing prostitution and refusing to recognize the legitimacy of sex work.⁶ Nigeria has adopted an approach that criminalizes many features of prostitution completely,

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which has not achieved the desired result the Nigerian legislature sought when making the decision to penalize sex work.⁷ On the opposite end of the spectrum, the approach embodied by the Netherlands can serve to highlight lucrative benefits that a country can realize by treating prostitution as a career and closely monitoring the industry. Legalizing sex work would aid in curbing many of the social, political, and economic issues bombarding the new South Sudan.⁸ Using the frameworks and demonstrated results of these differing schemes as guidance could be beneficial to the South Sudanese government in moving forward with a new stance towards prostitution.

This Note will critically analyze the history, language, enforcement, and consequences, both positive and negative, of the legislation concerning work in the sex industry enacted in Nigeria as well as in the Netherlands. Primarily, this Note will advance the position that the interests of South Sudan would be better served if the country amended its current laws penalizing certain facets of prostitution to mimic the Dutch Penal Code governing sex work in the Netherlands, as opposed to continuing its current regime, which closely resembles the stance on prostitution taken by Nigeria. Part II of this Note explores the current pervasiveness of illegal prostitution in South Sudan and the laws regulating and prohibiting the activity. Part III of this Note will look at the ineffective decriminalization and prohibitionist scheme surrounding prostitution in Nigeria. Conversely, Part III analyzes the approach taken by the Netherlands and the effectiveness of the Dutch regime. Part IV suggests that South Sudan should follow the Netherlands in legalizing prostitution and discusses the implications such a policy would have on the South Sudanese government, the country's economic situation, and the social circumstances of the community. Part V concludes the comparison between the two approaches and reiterates that South Sudan will fare better by legalizing prostitution.

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II. Background of Prostitution in South Sudan

A. The Current Crisis of Illegal Prostitution

Following the end of the brutal Sudanese civil war, South Sudan emerged as the world's newest country and shortly thereafter proceeded to join the United Nations (UN).⁹ South Sudan's independence espoused principles and ideals of justice for its people and protection of their civil rights.¹⁰ In the years following its creation, as with many fledgling countries, South Sudan began to experience internal complications in a variety of sectors including the criminal system.¹¹ One such complication was the growth of prostitution.¹² In the capital city of Juba, prostitution has flourished in just the few years since South Sudan gained independence.¹³ Foreigners comprise the majority of sex workers in this city.¹⁴ While the number of prostitutes in Juba was only a few thousand a couple years ago, the current number in Juba is estimated to be about 10,000 according to an ongoing study in the area.¹⁵

These individuals, mainly women and girls, justify their migration to Juba as a way to achieve sexual freedom and improve their financial situation.¹⁶ Poverty is one of the most influential factors forcing the women in South Sudan and neighboring countries to resort to prostitution in order to sustain life.¹⁷ Even with other legal forms of income, some individuals must resort

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to prostitution as a supplement to gainful employment.¹⁸ For those living in overwhelmingly harsh conditions in East Africa, Juba appears to be an extremely attractive destination because of the perceived profit potential from sex work.¹⁹

A large portion of the sex worker population in South Sudan, Juba especially, consists of young girls hailing from both within South Sudan and places such as Kenya, Congo, Uganda, and Khartoum, the capital of northern Sudan.²⁰ Juba is an attractive metropolitan area and a very conducive environment for human trafficking.²¹ Many of the girls coming into South Sudan are victims of human trafficking who were deceived into relocating to Juba under the ruse of an illegitimate agency that transports women to the city to become employed in a legitimate, more customary profession.²² Instead, these women and girls are trapped in the inescapable sex trade as slaves.²³

The extreme growth of prostitution in South Sudan can also be partially attributed to the latest influx of foreign aid workers and other UN personnel into the new country.²⁴ These foreign aid workers are highly attractive customers for prostitutes, pimps, and brothel-owners because they come into the country with excess money to spend, and most of the international UN soldiers, employees of non-governmental organizations, workers in foreign-owned companies, and other aid workers in the country are men away from their families.²⁵

The current institution of prostitution in South Sudan is accompanied by many major conflicts.²⁶ The sex industry in South Sudan is rife with different forms of crime, involuntary slavery (human trafficking), health concerns, and police harassment and brutality.²⁷ Specifically, the inadequate supply of condoms, clients' refusal to use condoms when available, and the difficulty in accessing medication to treat current HIV infections greatly

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intensify the health risks.²⁸ These problems raise concerns for the well-being of South Sudanese prostitutes and the apprehensions regarding the rapidly increasing spread of diseases throughout the population.²⁹ In spite of the HIV epidemic in the country, some customers offer to pay large amounts to forego the use of condoms, and some prostitutes find that offer hard to refuse.³⁰

However, sex work has indeed served to greatly improve the quality of life for at least some individuals who voluntarily enter into the sex business.³¹ For example, some girls lucratively profit from sex work by targeting rich, influential officials who oftentimes pay for a prostitute's services with brand new houses, cars, rent payments, or simply large sums of cash.³²

B. Existing Mechanisms in South Sudan to Combat Prostitution

The current legislation in South Sudan punishes soliciting others for prostitution; profiting from, managing, or facilitating...