Ditching the Nordic Model is an insult to women and will take our country backwards, NGOs said today.  

How can we believe that government has gender equality at heart if the same Government wants to continue facilitating the commodification and objectification of women’s bodies?, they said in a statement.

Decriminalising the selling of sex without criminalising the buying provides a very attractive situation for traffickers, pimps and johns to continue exploiting and denigrating women.

NGOs warn government that decriminalising prostitution without criminalising the buyer will open the floodgates for trafficking, and risks turning Malta into a mecca for sex Tourism.  The Prime Minister himself noted how he can’t understand “why the client doesn’t get punished but the prostitute gets sent to jail”. On this the NGOs are in full agreement with the Prime Minister, and hence the shock when it was announced yesterday that this Model is being ditched.

The core expert group whose proposal was endorsed by over forty organisations (including the vast majority of women’s organisations and academics who work in this field) are urging government not to rush with this decision, and to rely on experts who have significant knowledge of the consequences of inappropriate and inadequate laws to protect against human trafficking and exploitation.  The full list of organisation, which includes international organisations like the Coalition Against Trafficking,  is listed below.  

An article which appeared on Lovin Malta on Sunday 1 March, mentions Robert Musumeci and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando as being against the Nordic Model.  The core group is hoping that Government will not rely on uninformed opinion, but respect the evidence-based conclusions drawn by civil society and all those who endorsed the proposal for the Nordic Model - which is based on evidence based research.   The NGOs cannot understand how the Parliamentary Secretary arrived to this conclusion when the consultation process is ongoing and the NGOs are due to have a hearing on Wednesday 4^th in the Social Affairs Committee in Parliament.

If the Prime Minister really wants us to believe him when he says that things are better where women are involved, Government should not ignore the advice and expertise of women and local and international experts in the field, on something that directly concerns them. 

 

This Submission and its attendant proposals are endorsed by the following local organisations:

•             Association for Equality (A4E)

•             Attard Ladies Cultural Club (ALCC)

•             Azzjoni Kattolika Maltija (AKM)

•             Caritas

•             Dar Hosea

•             Dar Merhba Bik

•             Department of Gender Studies (UOM)

•             Department of Social Policy and Social Work (UOM)

•             emPOWer Platform:

•             Business and Professional Women (Valletta) Malta (BPW)

•             Foundation for Women Entrepreneurs Malta (FWE)

•             Malta Association of Women in Business (MAWB)

•             Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society (MFWS):

o             National Centre for Family Research

o             National Observatory for Living with Dignity

o             National Institute for Childhood

•             Malta Girl Guides (MGG)

•             Moviment Nisa’ Partit Nazzjonalista (MNPN)

•             National Council of Women (NCW)

•             Soroptimists International Malta (SI)

•             Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA)

•             Faculty of Theology (UOM)

•             Ghaqda Studenti tat-Teologija

•             Good Shepherd Sisters

•             Justice and Peace Commission

•             Local Councils’ Association

•             Malta Association of Public Health Medicine (MAPHM)

•             Malta Confederation of Women's Organisations (MCWO)

•             Malta Medical Students Association (MMSA)

•             Malta Midwives Association (MMA)

•             Men Against Violence (MAV)

•             OASI Foundation

•             Saint Jeanne Antide Foundation (SJAF)

•             Solidarity Overseas Service (SOS) Malta

•             University Chaplaincy

•             Victim Support Malta (VSM)

•             Women's Rights Foundation

•             Women`s Study Group (WSG)

This proposal is also endorsed by the following international organisations:

•             Coalition Abolition Prostitution (CAP) International

•             Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)

•             European Network of Migrant Women (ENOMW)

•             European Women's Lobby (EWL)

•             Survivors of Prostitution Abuse Calling for Enlightenment (SPACE) International