The Legal Implications of Legalising Prostitution in Namibia

HE IMPLICATIONS OF LEGALISING PROSTITUTION IN NAMIBIA
By
UMUNAVI DESIRE KAMBOUA

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of
BACHELORS IN LAW
Supervised by:
PROFESSOR N.J HORN
In the subject Human Rights
At the
UNIVERSITY OF NAMIBIA

This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the Bachelors in Law Degree

DECLARATION

I, Umunavi Desire Kamboua, hereby declare that this dissertation titled “The Implications of Legalising Prostitution in Namibia” is my own work and has not been submitted to any other institution for higher learning.

Signed by on this day Of 2011

SUPERVISOR CERTIFICATE
I, Professor J.N HORN certify that this research and writing of this dissertation was carried out under my supervision.

Signature
Date

ABSTRACT

Prostitution in Namibia is a legal problem that is at the table of parliamentarians and legal drafters in order curb the rising levels of poverty and HIV/AIDS. Looking into the historical background and development of prostitution is imperative as it places foundation for the understanding of prostitution and the reasons behind it. However, it should be noted that prostitution in itself is not illegal but the law criminalises acts surrounding its commission. The paper will look into the rights of sex worker and into human violations and lack of safe and supportive working conditions rendering sex workers particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. The predominant attitude in Namibia is that Namibia is a Christian society that needs to protect its morale and people from such acts, but nevertheless prostitution continues to grow in Namibia. The Author of the paper will look into the reasons why young women choose to sell their bodies instead of going to school and earning a living through what is considered as normal work and the gender inequalities regarding sex work, wherein the clients are not prosecuted, but merely the women who work as sex

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