This report examines the links between prostitution and violence against women and girls, submitted to inform South African legislative processes on sex trade regulation. It draws on both local and international research.

The document demonstrates the high prevalence of violence experienced by women in prostitution and challenges policy approaches that treat the sex trade as a neutral form of work. It argues that addressing prostitution requires tackling the underlying conditions of inequality and vulnerability that enable exploitation.

Recommendations include decriminalising those who are prostituted, holding buyers and exploiters legally accountable, and establishing comprehensive support systems that offer genuine alternatives for women seeking to exit the trade.