DESPITE ITS prevalence, prostitution is illegal in Jamaica. However, a number of persons have been lobbying for the local sex industry to be legitimised. They claim that it will cause the working conditions of the sex workers to improve.
Some persons have argued that the Government could benefit from regularising the industry by levying taxes on the earnings of the sex workers. Dr. Glenda Simms, gender expert, is one of the persons who say she supports the regularisation of the local adult sex industry.
PROTECTION
"We are not able to get rid of it, and if it is regularised, the women would be able to get some protection from their pimps and the men who exploit them. They would also be able to better protect themselves from being infected with sexually transmitted diseases," she stated.
Dr. Simms said persons who solicit the services of prostitutes are the ones who should be charged for prostitution rather than the prostitutes themselves.
"Without demand there would be no supply, and it is the women who are being victimised," she insisted.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Dr. Peter Figueroa, chief epidemiologist at the Ministry of Health and director of the National HIV/STI Control Programme, has also come out in support of regularising the local sex industry.
"There is a big demand for it and it is very risky for the sex workers' health. Regularising the industry would ensure the health and safety of the persons involved," Dr. Figueroa stated.
But until the local sex industry is legitimised, Diamond is among the many Jamaican sex workers who continue to 'covertly' sell sex in order to earn a living.
