The Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (Sweat) says more lives could be saved if police can handle cases involving sex workers better.
The organisation made this call after five decomposing bodies were found at a panel beating shop in Johannesburg on Sunday.
While the identities of the deceased have not yet been established, it is suspected that some of them were sex workers trading in the Johannesburg CBD.
Sweat spokesperson Megan Lessing said three sex workers have been reported missing in Johannesburg within the past two months and the police have not prioritised these cases due to the stigma associated with the sex trade.
“Sex workers are subjected to all types of violence from their clients and even from the police. The stigmatisation sex workers are faced with feeds the violence. Many in our society still don’t view sex work as a profession. Many still see sex workers as individuals that always put themselves in danger and somehow deserve to die horrible deaths,” said Lessing.
One person has been arrested in connection with the gruesome discovery at the panel beating shop.
Sweat helpline said it had received more than 100 calls from sex workers who are extremely concerned about their safety after the weekend incident.
“Apart from the five decomposed bodies that were found at the panel beating shop, two sex workers were murdered in Johannesburg within the last two months. Many sex workers are shocked and they are worried about their safety because we don’t know if these are random killings or there is someone targeting sex workers in Johannesburg. We urge the police to act fast and decisively if sex workers are being targeted in the area,” said Lessing.
Missing in SA, a non-profit organisation that promotes safety for all, said it was disturbed by the grisly discovery.
“Our team is working with relevant departments to check if some of the people we recently reported missing are not among those found at the panel beating shop. We will give the police space to conduct their investigation but they must work with speed because many families demand answers,” said Missing in SA spokesperson Leonardo Green.
According to Green, the number of people reported missing in Johannesburg has dropped within the past two months.
“Around June and July we used to report 20 to 40 missing persons per day. Now we are only reporting one or two missing persons per day. This is good news but we still want to get to a point where there is no reported missing person for two weeks or more,” said Green.
Police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said the police treat all cases the same.
“I am not aware of reported cases involving sex workers, but I will check on our system once I have received related case numbers. Investigations sometimes take a bit of time. People might think the case has gone away not knowing that investigators are busy gathering information,” said Masondo.
nzimandeb@sowetan.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.