Georgian model of sex work penalties
Amnesty International distinguishes between international models of criminalizing sex work:
It is a criminal offense for an adult to provide sexual services to another adult. A person who sells sexual services (sex worker) is criminally punished;
It is a crime for an adult to provide sexual services to another adult. Criminal liability rests with the recipient of sexual services (client);
Organizing sex work between adults is punishable under criminal law. Punishable actions also include advertising prostitution, renting space for prostitution, and so on. Consequently, the responsibility for organizing sex work lies with the sex workers, as well as other persons who assist them in the process.
Georgian model of penalizing sex work:
This model implies the existence of legislation and policies that have a similar effect to criminalization and are focused on punishing the sex worker. Georgian model of sex work penalties violates, controls and represses human autonomy due to involvement in sex work. These measures include fines, detention for “rehabilitation”, deportation, deprivation of custody of children, removal of social assistance.
The Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia considers sex work to be an administrative offense. The work of the Labor Code of Georgia and the guarantees of its protection do not apply to sex work, because sex work is not considered as a form of labor activity.
Georgian law uses the term “prostitution” instead of “sex worker” and “sex work”, which refers to the discriminatory treatment of a sex worker by the state.
Article 1723 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia considers prostitution as an administrative offense in violation of public order and is subject to administrative liability.
Prostitution will result in a warning or a fine of up to half the minimum wage. Repeatedly committing the same act within one year from the imposition of the administrative penalty will result in a fine equating of the minimum wage. Georgian law does not define the meaning of a prostitution act.
Amnesty International research shows that criminalizing and penalizing sex work has a significant negative impact on the protection of the rights of sex workers, such as the right to life, the right to autonomy and personal security, the right to equality and non-discrimination, the prohibition of degrading treatment, the right to, labor law, etc. The legal model of penalization and criminalization leads to a significant disregard for access to justice for sex workers and a violation of the right to equality before the law.
Sex work is a traumatic activity, which is further intensified by the repressive Georgian model of sex work. The state, through punishment-oriented legislation, poses an institutional barrier to sex workers. The pattern of sex work penalties puts sex workers at risk of abuse of power by law enforcement, so they often become victims of oppression and exclusion by the police and other people.
Using a repressive model of sex work regulation, the state shifts its focus from the structural barriers, inequality and real reasons for engaging in sex work, to punishment and moral-ethical reprimand of sex workers. According to the UN, under the criminalization of sex work, sex workers are forced to work illegally, where they are more vulnerable to violence. In this regard, one of the most vulnerable groups is transgender sex workers, who are often victims of homophobic and transphobic violence.
Sex workers face certain barriers to accessing justice due to gender-based violence.
The most common barriers to sex work are fear of administrative retribution, persecution of sex workers, and police violence; Ineffective police response to violence against sex workers by their service recipients and by third parties; Coercion of sex workers by the police to provide information on persons promoting and engaging in prostitution; Low level of legal awareness of sex workers, etc.
Reasons for engaging in sex work
Sex work is the result of an unjust distribution of power between women and men and is often caused by poverty among women. Economic hardship and a subordinate role in society often force women to engage in sex work.
Lots of women get involved in sex work because of their difficult and unbearable socio-economic situation and to meet their daily existential needs. According to one of the surveyed sex workers, the main reason for engaging in sex work in Georgia is “economic coercion, because they cannot work in another job and sex work is the only way to survive. The leading reason for staying is the high pay compared to other jobs.”
Some sex workers became involved in prostitution after being subjected to domestic violence or trafficking by their spouses.
International models of sex work regulation
The classic model of decriminalization of sex work has emerged in New Zealand. That is why the model of complete decriminalization is also called the New Zealand model. Under the decriminalization model, prostitution is not considered a criminal offense.
Both selling and buying sex services are decriminalized in New Zealand. Both the organization and management of sex work are decriminalized. The law does not oblige sex workers to undergo mandatory screening for sexually transmitted diseases. Registration of sex workers is not mandatory. Sex work is regulated in the same way as other businesses, in a manner prescribed for private businesses. Under New Zealand law, sex work is recognized as a job and it is not overly restricted by law.
The Nordic model of sex regulation, sometimes referred to as the Swedish, abolitionist and equality model, decriminalizes the sale of sex work and criminalizes the purchase of sex services. It represents a kind of intermediate model between the complete criminalization and legalization of sex work. Proponents of the Nordic model argue that it is committed to helping reduce the demand for sex trafficking and protecting the rights of sex workers. The goal of the Nordic model is to transfer the center of stigma and punishment from the sex workers to the clients.
The essence of legalizing sex work is that sex workers and sex workers are strictly controlled and restricted by state-imposed regulations. Strict regulations are manifested in the registration of sex workers, the restriction of the number, the determination of the location, the criteria and place of operation of the sex worker, the determination of the conditions of who can work as a sex worker, the mandatory medical examination, etc.
Under legalization, sex work is fully regulated by the state. In the system of legalization of sex work, there is a licensing of sex work from the state, regular inspections in brothels and other places of sex services. The legalization system sometimes even requires mandatory medical examinations for sex workers employed in licensed brothels. Proponents of legalization believe that legalized sex work allows sex workers to have regular health check-ups. It is a means of protecting oneself from sexually transmitted diseases. Legalization gives sex workers the right to employment.
