Connie Matthey never considered herself a sex worker until a new friend told her about it. She was 19, a single mother of two struggling to make ends meet, and dating a married man who rented her an apartment in an affluent Cape Town suburb.
The friend, herself a sex worker, told Connie: “He’s not a boyfriend, he’s sex work. He only comes to have sex with you, to bring you food and to pay the rent.”
Cooney told DW that she had tried working in retail, hospitality and a call center, but it wasn’t enough to cover her bills.
She believed that working as a full-time sex worker would mean that she was no longer dependent on her boyfriend; It promises greater financial security and autonomy.
Kony describes the work as dangerous due to constant police harassment and weekly raids. Years later, she was eventually arrested for running a brothel. She says that during her arrest the officers forced her to take off her clothes and sexually assaulted her.
Upon his release, Connie says he discovered that his savings had been stolen. She blames the police, but has no way of proving it.
The arrest eventually brought her to South Africa’s leading sex workers’ rights organization, the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT).
Kony is now a national coordinator at the Asiziki Coalition, which advocates for the decriminalization of sex work in South Africa.
Why crime free?
Although sex trafficking is illegal in South Africa, SWEAT believes there are 150,000 sex workers in the country. SWEET representative Megan Lessing told DW that this was based on a 2013 study, which also estimated that 90% of sex workers were women. But Lessing believes that today the number is closer to 80%.
Importantly, according to the Global Network of Sex Work Projects, sex work refers only to the consensual provision of sexual services between adults in exchange for money, goods or favors.
Supporters of decriminalizing sex work point to people like Kony. They argue that “sex work is work” – the industry is not inherently dangerous, but the criminalization and stigma of sex work makes it so. Supporters also say that decriminalization will reduce trafficking.
In 2021, South African researcher researcher Approximately 70% of sex workers in South Africa experienced physical violence. Nearly 60% had been raped, with one in seven being raped by policemen. The study found that these violent crimes are rarely reported due to fear of arrest or harassment.
Due to stigmatization of sex workers, they are being badly affected by HIV. While South Africa has made great progress in fighting the virus, the country still has the world’s largest national HIV epidemic, according to UNAIDS,
SWEAT says incidents where police arrest sex workers for possessing condoms as “evidence of sex work” undermine South African policies.
Activists and health professionals say sex workers seeking medical help often face ridicule and contempt.
Case of decriminalizing sex work
In early September 2025, a judge in the Western Cape High Court ruled that 16 NGOs could argue the case. Fourteen people are in favor of decriminalization. Two, including Cause for Justice (CFJ), are against it, and the Western Cape High Court is preparing for a massive hearing.
The CFJ supports what it calls family values and says the case is a matter of “fundamental human dignity.” The NGO refers to sex work as prostitution, which it says is “the commodification of the human body, turning people into commercial sexual objects for the satisfaction of predatory individuals.”
CFJ wants sex work decriminalized on the field It is derogatory towards women, promotes sex trafficking, promotes child prostitution, significantly increases the risk of transmitting sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and is a public nuisance.
That sex work is inherently dehumanizing is also reflected in feminist debates, where it is seen as an extreme form of gender-based violence and represents the complete exploitation of women’s bodies. In contrast, proponents of decriminalization say that this approach undermines their bodily autonomy.
dual legal strategy
In 2022, the Department of Justice published a decriminalization bill that would repeal laws criminalizing sex work, but the bill is stalled in the parliamentary process due to proposed content expansion, opposition from critics, and changes in government leadership. SWEET representative Megan Lessing told DW that the urgency and politics may have faltered.
While SWEAT continues to push for the decriminalization bill, they are now working on what Lessing calls a “dual strategy”, where it also opposes the constitutionality of laws targeting sex workers.
SWEAT’s legal team claims that the criminalization of sex work is unconstitutional as it relates to the right to liberty and security, the right to access to justice, the right to access fair labor practices, and the right to health care.
In a major victory in August 2025, SWEAT was able to secure a national moratorium on the prosecution of sex workers until the trial began.
a global issue
South Africa is not the only country that has appropriate legislation for sex work. Globally, there are many models, and there is competition on each one.
In countries such as Sweden, Norway, Canada and Israel, the so-called Nordic model is employed. Criminal penalties for the sale of sex have been removed, but the purchasing of sex remains illegal.
In other countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Peru, and Senegal, sex work is legal, meaning that governments enforce specific laws and regulations. It allows some sex work under controlled conditions, and requires registration and mandatory health checks in some countries.
Meanwhile, decriminalization is only fully enforced in New Zealand and Belgium. This implies the removal of all laws and regulations that penalize sexual activity between consenting adults. Sex work is treated like any other profession to reduce stigma, maintain bodily autonomy, and promote health and safety.
Decriminalization is the legal model most preferred globally Sex worker-led initiative.
International organizations such as the World Health Organization, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS have also advocated decriminalization of sex work.
‘Criminal for life’
Connie told DW that it is difficult to break out of the sex industry, even if sex workers have additional qualifications:
She said, “Even though I have a diploma in legal studies, I’m still afraid to ask for another job other than sweat. If you have a criminal record in South Africa, no one will hire you. Even people who want to get out of this industry can’t do it.”
Most recently, Kony is concerned about the effects of USAID cuts in 2025 on the health of sex workers. While picking up the results of routine medical tests, Connie Mathey discovered that the clinic where she had had the test, the Ivan Toms Center for Health in Cape Town, had closed.
The USAID-funded clinic was known for being discreet and LGBTQ+ friendly. According to Kony, it was one of the few places where sex workers were treated respectfully and fairly.
After it closed, Connie and several other patients were sent to a local hospital, where she says they waited hours for treatment and were asked to solidify their medical concerns as a group.
“We were not welcome in the public hospital,” Kony said, “They looked at us as if we were asking for some special service.”
Important tests on the horizon
Kony hopes that the Western Cape High Court will rule in his favor when the case comes up for hearing in May 2026. This will pave the way for sex workers to have access to the same fundamental rights and services as everyone else.
SWEAT representative Megan Lessing acknowledges, “We know decriminalization won’t fix everything. But it is a first step toward addressing the broad spectrum of issues associated with sex work.”
Edited by: Cai Nebe