The Valencia Region’s Minister of Justice, Interior and Public Administration, Gabriela Bravo, has urged the municipalities to adopt the model of Municipal Abolitionist Ordinance prepared within the framework of the Valencian Forum for the Abolition of Prostitution that protects women and enforce fines up to 3,000 euro those who demand paid sex, as well as intermediaries and places where this “form of gender violence” is exercised.
The minister presented the ordinance model in an act in Mislata, together with its mayor, Carlos Fernández Bielsa, and the president of the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, Rubén Alfaro, and before twenty mayors from all over the Valencian Community.
During her speech, Gabriela Bravo defended that local corporations have “sufficient skills and capacities to be in the forefront of the eradication of prostitution through municipal ordinances, which are a very powerful instrument for making a difference between those municipalities who protect the dignity of all people and those who, to their shame and ours, abdicate it”.
In this sense, she has given as examples the cases of Albal and Quart de Poblet “which have been pioneers in the approval of abolitionist ordinances” and has lamented the existence of “that shameful ordinance of the Alicante City Council that criminalises women in prostitution and makes them responsible for their situation, without noticing that it is an unequal and unfair system that subjects them and deprives them of a life worthy of rights”.
The Minister recalled that the scientific studies carried out by the Forum have revealed that in the three provinces there are between 10,000 and 13,000 women in a situation of prostitution. “And if the offer is that big, it is because there are men willing to pay for it. This is the only way to understand that 20% of Valencian men over the age of 18 -1 in 5- admit that they have paid for sex at some time in his life,” she said.
The abolitionist ordinance model -which has been made available to all the municipalities of the Valencian Community- includes in its articles the prohibition of the demand for prostitution, which it considers a serious infraction, and sanctions it with fines of up to 1,500 euro.
In addition, if this demand occurs less than 200 metres from an educational centre, from places with an influx of children or from the celebration of a festive or sports event, it is considered a very serious offense and is sanctioned with a fine of up to 3,000 euro. In the same way, those who collaborate with the demanders of paid sex as intermediaries (pimps) or people who alert to the presence of law enforcement agents may be sanctioned.
On the other hand, it also prohibits advertising that promotes the consumption of prostitution, which it considers a minor infraction, and sanctions it with fines of up to 750 euro. In this case, both the person who materially executes the advertising act (such as distributing brochures) and the advertiser will be responsible.
An important part of the model ordinance recognises women in prostitution as victims of gender violence. For this reason, prostituted people will not be punished in any case and will promote aid policies to get them out of their situation.
In this sense, the model ordinance provides for the approval of comprehensive municipal action plans, which contain measures so that women in a situation of prostitution have access to services and resources that allow them to leave the prostitution system. This plan will include social, labour, training and housing support actions.
According to Bravo, “we are the first autonomous community to make an abolitionist ordinance model available to municipalities, which makes us a reference for other territories committed to equality between men and women, as well as to the eradication of all forms of gender violence, including the purchase of women’s bodies”.
The Minister announced that she is going to continue “demanding from the Government of Spain a Comprehensive Law for the Abolition of Prostitution”. However, “from the Consell del Botànic we are not going to sit idly by because we have already launched the modification of the Law on Shows in the Valencian Community, which is currently undergoing a public hearing”.
This rule contemplates the sanction of those establishments that allow or favour prostitution, the prohibition of advertising that incites or encourages prostitution or any form of sexual exploitation and the administrative sanction of the demand for prostitution in public premises and establishments.
