Orihuela has approved an ordinance for the Abolition of Prostitution and Sexual Exploitation, in order to promote, within the scope of municipal powers, the eradication of prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation in the municipality of Orihuela, protecting the rights of victims of the prostitution system.
The Valencia regional Government approved measures which allowed municipalities to take action, and Orihuela is the latest to articulate a series of legal measures, as well as psychosocial resources, to defend and protect women victims of prostitution and sexual exploitation, and to guarantee coexistence in the public space so that all citizens can freely exercise their rights.
The Ordinance regulates three types of infractions: minor, serious and very serious. Minor infractions are considered to place, distribute, and/or disseminate advertising that promotes, favours or encourages the consumption and/or market of prostitution, as well as sexual tourism, when using public space or the elements that comprise it and that constitute the objective scope of its application. Those who materially execute it, in addition to those who appear as advertisers in the media, format and/or support in question in each case, will be responsible for carrying out this conduct.
As for the serious offences, they include directly or indirectly requesting, negotiating or accepting paid sexual services; carrying out any activity of a sexual nature in the public space in exchange for remuneration, in money or in kind, or any other consideration; collaborating with those requesting sexual services with actions such as facilitating, monitoring and alerting about the presence of law enforcement officers; favouring or promoting the consumption of prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, the prostitution market and/or sexual tourism.
Very serious cases include situations carried out in: spaces located less than two hundred metres away from teaching or educational centres or other places with an influx of children; places located less than two hundred metres from spaces intended for the celebration of any public event of a cultural, festive, recreational and/or sports nature, with an influx of public and points that imply greater vulnerability for people in prostitution situations due to their isolation, shortage of lighting, proximity to vehicle traffic routes and spaces that prevent or make it difficult to escape.
