New bill seeks to make prostitution legal in Romania
A new bill introduced in the Romanian legislature aims to make prostitution legal. More precisely, it means to regulate and authorize sexual activities, as well as establish a framework of control.
The document introduces medical, fiscal, and administrative obligations and sets strict rules for carrying out the activity.
"I chose regulation over hypocrisy. Many will say there are 'other priorities.' However, protecting public health and combating modern slavery can never be secondary priorities. The state has the obligation to regulate reality, not to pretend it does not see it while victims are exploited in the shadows," said the initiator, Liberal deputy Ion Iordache.
If approved, the bill would make it so prostitution would be allowed only based on authorizations issued by local authorities and conditioned on the performance of periodic medical checks. According to the initiator, the measure would allow more efficient health control and provide authorities with additional tools to combat human trafficking and exploitation.
Despite the fact that the National Liberal Party (PNL) is part of the governing coalition, it is not guaranteed that the bill will have the support of allies in the Social Democratic Party (PSD).
According to PSD deputy Diana Tușa, the major problem is child trafficking, not the lack of regulation of prostitution. “We are talking about child trafficking, because in Romania more than half of human trafficking victims are children,” she argued, according to G4Media.
In her view, solutions should focus on education and social policies, not the legalization or authorization of controversial activities such as sexual services. “To protect them from traffickers, Romania’s children need education and jobs here, in the country,” Diana Tușa said, criticizing government policies in education and the labor market.
She also challenged the argument that regulating prostitution would reduce human trafficking, citing examples from other European countries. “The legalization of prostitution in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, or Greece has not reduced human trafficking, but only changed its dynamics and location,” she explained.
Romania’s Orthodox Church also weighed in on the issue, stating that prostitution “represents a serious form of exploitation and trading of the human body for financial purposes, and its legalization will not lead to the eradication of human trafficking.”
According to the statement, “the legalization of prostitution will not lead to the eradication of human trafficking, nor to the elimination of sexual exploitation, nor to the disappearance of illegal prostitution. On the contrary, there is a real risk that it will provide a legal framework favorable to the expansion of practices incompatible with human freedom and dignity.”
(Photo source: Motortion | Dreamstime.com)
