As the country delves deeper into the debate on prostitution, several shocking stories have emerged from the law courts, showing how drastic the situation of sex workers in Malta is.

One of these cases is related to the many ‘massage’ parlours that today dot the country.

Like in many other cases, the women who work at this establishment travelled from abroad on the promise of earning a decent wage and living a better life than they had in their home country.

But what they found waiting for them here was far from the dream they imagined.

Some of the women, in this particular case Chinese, told the courts that they were forced into a world of prostitution, where they were threatened with dismissal if they did not comply with certain clients’ requests for ‘extras.’

The women worked long hours, Monday to Sunday. And they lived in horrendous conditions, sleeping on small sofas or on the floor, and cooking dinner on the most basic equipment.

These women came to Malta using valid documents but once they had crossed the border and stepped outside of the airport they were forgotten by the system, swallowed by an ugly underworld that the authorities seem reluctant to look at.

Later this week another shocking case emerged. A foreign couple has been arraigned on suspicion of running a ‘family-run brothel’ from their home in St Paul’s Bay. The court heard how one of the victims is a relative and the couple’s young daughter, who already leads a troubled life, could possibly also end up in prostitution. According to the prosecution, one of the accused, the wife, would take some fifteen bookings daily.

We have heard these stories over and over again. Stories of human exploitation and slavery. The worst thing is that this is happening in front of our very eyes.

Over the past few years these so called massage parlours have sprouted up around the country.

They are not hidden. In fact, they operate in plain sight, on many of Malta’s busiest roads. Many of these shops leave their doors ajar in the evenings, and one can easily spot one or two scantily clad women sitting suggestively on sofas in the lobbies. It does not take a genius to figure out which ‘massage parlours’ are actually brothels.

Most of the women working inside are foreigners, often from Eastern European or South American countries. Some of them are Maltese. In any case, their nationality is not an issue. They are all human beings.

After years of ignoring the problem the country has finally woken up from its slumber and launched a debate on prostitution.

Many experts seem to think that the Nordic model is the most ideal. The Nordic model decriminalises all those who are prostituted, provides support services to help them get out of prostitution and makes buying people for sex a criminal offence in order to reduce the demand that drives sex trafficking. It also makes it clear that buying people for sex is wrong and it has sanctions that discourage people from doing it.

The Council of Europe has also urged countries to opt for the Nordic model, rather than legalistion.

Whatever method the country goes for, it has to be one that protects the people working in this sector.

But something has to be done between now and then.

Holding a healthy debate is all well and good, but debates take time and, in the meantime, many women, men and people of other sexual orientations continue to suffer and live in inhuman conditions.

The ongoing debate is no excuse for inaction. There is nothing stopping the relevant authorities from ensuring that people are not enslaved and living in filthy conditions, and that their ‘employers’ are not breaching all existing labour laws.