Ditching the Nordic Model is an insult to women and will take our country backwards, NGOs said today.

How can we believe that government has gender equality at heart if the same Government wants to continue facilitating the commodification and objectification of women’s bodies?, they said in a statement.

Decriminalising the selling of sex without criminalising the buying provides a very attractive situation for traffickers, pimps and johns to continue exploiting and denigrating women.

NGOs warn government that decriminalising prostitution without criminalising the buyer will open the floodgates for trafficking, and risks turning Malta into a mecca for sex Tourism. The Prime Minister himself noted how he can’t understand “why the client doesn’t get punished but the prostitute gets sent to jail”. On this the NGOs are in full agreement with the Prime Minister, and hence the shock when it was announced yesterday that this Model is being ditched.

The core expert group whose proposal was endorsed by over forty organisations (including the vast majority of women’s organisations and academics who work in this field) are urging government not to rush with this decision, and to rely on experts who have significant knowledge of the consequences of inappropriate and inadequate laws to protect against human trafficking and exploitation. The full list of organisation, which includes international organisations like the Coalition Against Trafficking, is listed below. Read more via Independent