A 2008 survey found that 78% of Spaniards consider prostitution inevitable in modern society. And the demand is huge: another survey conducted in 2006 found that almost 40% of Spanish men over the age of 18 have paid for sex at least once in their lives. Mora has recently experienced a sea change in the way men buy sex. In the past, it was mostly older men who moved away from their families. Now street women and sex buyers themselves are getting younger. “The social stigma is not the same as it was at the beginning of my destiny,” she says. “We have a generation of young men who believe they have the right to harm a woman`s body if they paid for it, and they don`t have to worry about the consequences.” Auf dem 40. At the congress of the Spanish Socialist Workers` Party (PSOE) last month, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez promised to ban prostitution in Spain. “We will push for the abolition of prostitution that enslaves women,” he told El País, sounding very much like a human rights crusader. Now, Sánchez`s promise to ban prostitution has angered many at home and abroad.

Conxa Borrell, general secretary of OTRAS, the only union in Spain representing sex workers, told Politico: “When something is banned, mafias are created.” A spokesperson for the European Alliance for the Rights of Sex Workers, an organization representing more than 100 groups working with sex workers, criticized Sánchez`s government, telling VICE World News: “COVID-19 has had a huge impact on sex workers around the world, including in Spain, where many sex workers face poverty and homelessness. The organization urged the Spanish prime minister to “meet with representatives of sex worker communities, discuss their needs and develop common programs and policies that would protect them,” rather than banning their trade outright. Trabe, which shelters victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, said any new law should provide social protection for prostitutes, while Medicos del Mundo said the Socialists should refine their proposal or risk organizations that help women accused of facilitating prostitution. Some prostitution takes place in small farms (cortijos) outside Roquetas de Mar. Prostitutes work for organized criminal organizations related to trafficking in human beings. This is because they have a debt to pay to offset the cost of being taken there. Many prostitutes are of Russian, Nigerian and Moroccan origin. [36] Some women accepted work as prostitutes after being unable to work in intensive agriculture. [37] Nieto has worked with prosecutor Beatriz Sánchez for ten years. Since 2010, the impressive Spanish lawyer has handled more than 100 human trafficking cases; In 2012, she managed to send Ioan Clamparu, the “capo” of Europe`s largest prostitution trafficking network, to prison for 30 years. She is optimistic, funny and warm, but steadfast in her determination.

“We have made great strides in prosecuting and convicting traffickers,” she said. “But many cases are dismissed or don`t go to court.” Sánchez says only one-tenth of the trafficking cases she handles make it to court because the burden of proof is high and requires testimony and months of policing. “Often, business is organized and transnational, with huge sums of money moved. These are complex crimes that are difficult to dismantle. Under Spanish law, you need evidence of the extreme use of force and intimidation to prosecute cases of pimping and coercion. “All forms of pimping must be punishable,” she said. “Only then can we effectively end human trafficking.” Some organizations that work with trafficked and professed women, such as Medicos del Mundo, see it as a step in the right direction, while others, such as Antigona, a group of academics who advocate for legalizing prostitution, say they could drive undocumented migrants underground and make them more vulnerable to human trafficking networks. In 1935, under the Second Republic (1931-36), prostitution was banned. After the establishment of the dictatorship (1939-75), this law was repealed (1941). Spain was officially abolished on 18 June 1962, when the 1949 United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others was ratified by Spain and Decree 168 of 24 June 1962 was ratified by Spain. In January 1963, the Criminal Law of Código was amended in accordance with the Convention.

Theoretically, in accordance with the Convention, this policy considered sex workers (trabajadores sexuales) as victims of sexual exploitation and advocated punishing their exploiters rather than the workers themselves, refusing to distinguish between voluntary and forced sex work. [20] However, there were inconsistencies, as prostitutes were in fact treated more like criminals: according to Law 16/1970 of August 4 on Social Threat and Rehabilitation (Ley de peligrosidad y rehabilitación social), prostitutes were declared classified classes as social ills and could be housed in special centers or were not allowed to live in certain areas. In practice, however, prostitution has been tacitly ignored and tolerated. [21] As in many countries, prosecution is almost impossible without a victim being willing to disclose their situation and testify against their exploiters. “Victims are very worried that if they tell the police, they will be sent back to their country without having paid their debts,” says Nieto. “It makes policing very difficult; If women don`t ask for help, there`s a limit to what you can do. Here in Spain, prostitution itself is not illegal, running a brothel is not illegal, so you have to prove that what is happening is more than it seems. Prostitution is less regulated in Spain than in many European countries.

However, advertising for prostitution has been made illegal, and in 2022 a bill was presented to the Spanish Parliament proposing the criminalization of brothel ownership and pimping, whether exploitation or abuse, as well as the criminalization of prostitutes` clients. The proposed maximum sentence is four years. The bill is supported by Spain`s ruling Socialist Workers` Party. Street protests against the law took place in Madrid in September 2022. [14] MADRID – Spain, one of the world`s leading markets for prostitution, hopes to crack down on the practice by targeting those who financially exploit prostitutes as well as those who buy their services. There are many reasons why Spain has become a hot spot, but for Mora, the most important factor is cultural. Spain`s sex trafficking epidemic, she says, is just the most extreme manifestation of the country`s problematic attitudes toward women and sex. “The demand for prostitution is huge here. It has become so normal that it is seen as any other leisure activity.

Medicos del Mundo estimates that there are about 350,000 prostituted women in Spain and that 80% of them are foreigners without legal papers. Online advertising for prostitutes is also a common sight in Spain. Sánchez will also find an ally in Spain`s thriving human rights community. Groups like Slavery XXI, an organization dedicated to exposing human trafficking, want the country to adopt a version of the so-called Nordic model, an abolitionist framework for prostitution implemented in countries like Sweden and France. The Nordic model makes it illegal to buy sex, but not to sell one`s body for sexual purposes. Services auxiliary to prostitution – such as brothels, pimping and advertising – are also prohibited. The intention is to end the demand for prostitution by punishing those who pay for sex rather than those who are paid for sex, thereby minimizing harm to an already vulnerable population. Prostitution in Spain is not regulated by a specific law, but a number of related activities, such as pimping, are illegal. In 2016, UNAIDS estimated that there were 70,268 prostitutes in the country,[1] although other estimates put the number between 300,000 and 400,000 in the region.

[2] [3] [4] [dubious – discuss] The sex industry in Spain is estimated at 3.7 billion euros. [5] What is illegal is the profit derived from the prostitution of others: trafficking in human beings, pimping, etc. And there is indeed a growing movement against prostitution these days. It`s hard to get accurate statistics, but a 2011 UN report indicates that the country is the third largest center of prostitution in the world after Thailand and Puerto Rico. But the law would not make prostitution illegal in Spain, one of the world`s main markets for the practice. Although democracy was restored in 1975, this policy was only revised with the revision of the 1995 Penal Code,[22] and most prostitution laws were repealed, with the exception of those governing minors and persons with mental health problems.