Never judge a book by its cover
Debating crimes such as armed robbery, rape and murder - including prevention, police action, prosecution and sentences - is mostly a black and white discussion with little room grey areas about how law enforcement should deal with it.
South Africans are by now almost in a permanent state of trauma induced by personal loss or injury at the hands of violent criminals, or sympathy towards others who have fallen victim.
There is general consensus that perpetrators should be hunted down, prosecuted swiftly and mercilessly and slammed with maximum sentences upon conviction with no deviation for any reason.
But what about something such as prostitution, which is and always has been illegal in this country?
Lifeline Zululand statistics indicate that the region is home to far more than 2 000 commercial sex workers and predict that many more will turn to this cash industry to survive the current economic hardships as retrenchments and business closures put an increasing number of people on the road to nowhere.
There are many promises of major job-providing projects in the pipeline, but a promise is not bread.
While it is easy to take a merciless stance towards perpetrators of other types of crime, even hardened law enforcement agents are emotionally and intellectually conflicted when dealing with prostitutes.
People living in the ‘Land of Naïve’, believe prostitutes enjoy their profession and have in fact chosen to earn their money in such a way. They are perceived to be drug addicts, probe to rob their clients, cry rape if they are not paid, are unfit mothers, have no education or desire to further themselves and enjoy the cash benefits while evading tax.
They are held responsible for decay in society, the spread of diseases and family breakups and should definitely not be accommodated anywhere, especially in churches.
In the ‘Land of Reality’, prostitutes are also young children, foreigners and victims of violence, broken families, incest, rape and abject poverty.
With the human trafficking trend also rising, old biases must urgently be addressed.
The sex industry should remain illegal and brothel keepers should be prosecuted mercilessly, but it is time for opinion shapers, church leaders and volunteer organisations to consider the way sex workers are viewed and dealt with.
Rejection as a means to motivate change, hope, personal growth and better choices, are notoriously unsuccessful.
