Prostitution in Malta

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A street in Gzira known for prostitution Places in Gzira 08.jpg
A street in Gzira known for prostitution

Prostitution in Malta is itself legal, but certain activities connected with it, such as running a brothel and loitering, are not. [1] [2] Certain offences are punishable by sentences of up to two years in prison. [3] In March 2008, police and the Malta Ministry for Social Policy signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize a screening process for all arrested persons engaged in prostitution to determine whether they were victims of trafficking or other abuses. [3] The law provides punishments of up to 6 years for involving minors in prostitution. [4]

Contents

"The Gut" in 1967. Malta GC. Valletta-1967 (8240967236).jpg
"The Gut" in 1967.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat promised to discuss legalising prostitution in the buildup to the 2017 general election. [5] Valletta’s Strait Street (Maltese : Triq id-Dejqa), known locally as the 'Gut', was the centre of prostitution from the 1830s to the 1970s. [6] The Mello area of Gżira is known as a red-light district. [7]

History

Knights of Malta

Prostitution has occurred in Malta for centuries. When the Knights Hospitaller came to the country in 1530, the port of Vittoriosa contained many brothels. As well as Maltese prostitutes, there were also some from Greece, Italy, Spain and North Africa. The French king's geographer, Nicholas de Nicolai, was impressed by the number of prostitutes in the streets when he visited Vittoriosa in 1551, [8] Prior to the Great Siege of Malta in 1565, arrangements were made to evacuate the country's prostitutes to Sicily. [9]

When the Knights moved from Vittoriosa to the new capital Valletta, the prostitutes followed. As the Knights took vows of chastity, the prostitutes with them was seen as a scandal. Foreign prostitutes were expelled and the Maltese prostitutes confined to one area of the city. [8] At the time prostitutes wore a white shirt tied under their bust and a white cape. [8]

In 1608, inquisitor Leonetto della Cordoba was charged with seeking out prostitutes and dismissed as an inquisitor. [8] Prostitution was also common on Gozo. [8]

Towards the 17th century, there was harsh prejudice and laws towards those who were found guilty or who spoke openly of being involved in same-sex activity. English voyager and author William Lithgow, writing in March 1616, says a Spanish soldier and a Maltese teenage boy were publicly burnt to ashes for confessing to have practiced sodomy together. [10] Fearing a similar end, about a hundred males involved in same-sex prostitution sailed to Sicily the following day. [11]

Under a code introduced by Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena in 1724, married men of means were fined if found guilty of use of the service of a prostitute, and expelled from the country on the third conviction. Lower-class men were whipped and sentenced to hard labour on the third offence. The 1784 code of Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc barred foreign prostitutes from entering the country and placed restrictions on Maltese prostitutes. They were not allowed to open their doors between sunrise and sunset and were not allowed to enter pubs or taverns. Compulsory medical examinations were introduced. [12]

French period

Auberge de Baviere was a hospital for venereal disease in Valletta Malta - Valletta - Triq San Bastjan - Auberge de Baviere 03 ies.jpg
Auberge de Bavière was a hospital for venereal disease in Valletta

Following the French occupation of Malta, prostitution rose. [8] Compulsory medical examinations continued [12] and the authorities opened hospitals in the monastery of Saint Scholastica and in Auberge de Bavière to treat soldiers with STIs. [8] [13]

British period

After the country came under control of the British, prostitution increased again due to the number of sailors and soldiers stationed there. [8] Many married women worked as prostitutes, with their husbands' knowledge, due to economic hardship. [14]

Strait Street, in Valletta known locally as the 'Gut', was the centre of prostitution from the 1830s to the 1970s. Compulsory medical examinations continued until 1859 when it was realised that previous Grand Master codes were not legally enforceable. The prostitutes therefore refused to undergo the examinations. [12] As a result, the authorities, under the guidance of Governor John Le Marchant, [1] decreed under Ordinance IV of 1861, that all prostitutes should be examined by a police doctor three times a month in an attempt to control the spread of STDs. [1] [8] If an infection was discovered, the prostitute was taken to hospital and kept there until cured. [1] This regulation in Malta was a great influence on Britain introducing the first of the Contagious Diseases Acts in 1864 and its subsequent extension. [15] The frequency of examinations was increased to 4 times a month in 1920. [8]

Although there were regulations to control STIs, there were no prostitution laws until 1898. A new law was introduced prohibiting brothels, and not more than one prostitute could live in the same house unless they registered with the police. [8] The law also forbade prostitutes to live on the ground floor, within 50 yards of a place of worship or adjacent to licensed premises. [1] In 1904 there were 152 registered prostitutes, although many more were unregistered. [8]

Malta was known by British sailors as the 'place with the three Ps: pubs, priests and prostitutes'. [16] Under the British Maltese moved to Egypt and Soho in London from 1905 to set up brothels there.

Sex trafficking

Malta is a source and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking. Women and children from Malta have also been subjected to sex trafficking within the country. Women from Southeast Asia working as domestic workers, Chinese nationals working in massage parlors, and women from Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Ukraine working in nightclubs represent populations vulnerable to exploitation. [17]

Article 248A-G of the criminal code prohibits both sex and labour trafficking and prescribes penalties of four to 12 years imprisonment. The government has not obtained a conviction since early 2012. The government conducted three investigations and initiated prosecution of four defendants in one case, which remained pending at the close of 2016. These efforts were on par with 2015 when the government initiated investigation of two cases and prosecution of two defendants. Both the appeal of a 2012 conviction of a police officer for alleged collusion with a trafficker, and the prosecution of a 2004 case involving a police official, remained pending. There were no new investigations or prosecutions of government employees complicit in human trafficking offences. [17]

The United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ranks Malta as a 'Tier 2' country. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

Child sex tourism (CST) is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, which is commercially facilitated child sexual abuse. The definition of child in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is "every human being below the age of 18 years". Child sex tourism results in both mental and physical consequences for the exploited children, which may include sexually transmitted infections, "drug addiction, pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and death", according to the State Department of the United States. Child sex tourism, part of the multibillion-dollar global sex tourism industry, is a form of child prostitution within the wider issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Child sex tourism victimizes approximately 2 million children around the world. The children who perform as prostitutes in the child sex tourism trade often have been lured or abducted into sexual slavery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in the United Kingdom</span> Overview of the legality and practice of prostitution in the United Kingdom

In Great Britain, the act of engaging in sex as part of an exchange of various sexual services for money is legal, but a number of related activities, including soliciting in a public place, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, pimping and pandering, are illegal. In Northern Ireland, which previously had similar laws, paying for sex became illegal from 1 June 2015.

Prostitution in Ireland is legal. However, since March 2017, it has been an offence to buy sex. Third party involvement is also illegal. Since the law that criminalises clients came into being, with the purpose of reducing the demand for prostitution, the number of prosecutions for the purchase of sex increased from 10 to 92 between 2018 and 2020. In a report from UCD's Sexual Exploitation Research Programme the development is called ”a promising start in interrupting the demand for prostitution.”

Prostitution in Myanmar is illegal, but widespread. Prostitution is a major social issue that particularly affects women and children. UNAIDS estimate there to be 66,000 prostitutes in the country.

Prostitution in Denmark was partly decriminalised in 1999, based partly on the premise that it was easier to police a legal trade than an illegal one. Third-party activities, such as profiting from brothel administration and other forms of procuring, remain illegal activities in Denmark, as do pimping and prostitution of minors.

Prostitution in Singapore in itself is not illegal, but various prostitution-related activities are criminalized. This includes public solicitation, living on the earnings of a prostitute and maintaining a brothel. In practice, police unofficially tolerate and monitor a limited number of brothels. Prostitutes in such establishments are required to undergo periodic health checks and must carry a health card.

Prostitution in Belize is legal, but the buying of sexual services is not. Associated activities such as operating a brothel, loitering for the purposes of prostitution and soliciting sex are also illegal.

Prostitution in Egypt is illegal. The Egyptian National Police officially combats prostitution but, like almost all other countries, prostitution exists in Egypt. UNAIDS estimate there to be 23,000 prostitutes in the country, including Egyptians, West African and Eastern Europeans.

Prostitution in Trinidad and Tobago is legal but related activities such as brothel keeping, soliciting and pimping are illegal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Europe</span> Overview of the legality and practice of prostitution around Europe

The legality of prostitution in Europe varies by country.

Prostitution in Kuwait is illegal, but common. Most of the prostitutes are foreign nationals.

Prostitution in Croatia is illegal but common. Forcible prostitution, any kind of brothels, or procuring are treated as a felony, while voluntary prostitution is considered to be infraction against public order. Like in many other Southeast European countries, the problem of human trafficking for the purposes of sex is big in Croatia.

Prostitution in Tunisia is regulated and confined to two small areas, one in Sfax and the other, Sidi Abdallah Guech in Tunis. Outside these two areas prostitution is illegal.

Prostitution in Scotland has been similar to that in England under the State of Union, but since devolution, the new Scottish Parliament has pursued its own policies.

Prostitution in Northern Ireland is governed by the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act 2015, which makes it illegal to pay for sex in Northern Ireland. Prior to the act coming into effect, prostitution in Northern Ireland was regulated by the same or similar laws to those in England and Wales, as it is elsewhere in the United Kingdom. At that time, prostitution in Northern Ireland was legal subject to a number of restraints which controlled certain activities associated with prostitution, such as soliciting, procuring, living on the proceeds of prostitution (pimping), exploitation of prostitutes, under-age prostitution, and keeping a brothel. However, devolution provided the opportunity for separate legislation in Northern Ireland.

Prostitution in Namibia is legal and a highly prevalent common practice. Related activities such as solicitation, procuring and being involved in the running of a brothel are illegal. A World Bank study estimated there were about 11,000 prostitutes in Namibia.

Prostitution in Malawi is legal and prevalent around hotels and bars in urban and tourist areas. Living off the proceeds of prostitution is illegal. In 2015, it was estimated there were 20,000 sex workers in the country.

Prostitution in Algeria is legal but most related activities such as brothel-keeping and solicitation are criminalised. Coastal resorts, particularly Tichy, are destinations for sex tourism. As of 2017 there were two brothels in Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Oceania</span> Legality of prostitution in Oceania

Prostitution in Oceania varies greatly across the region. In American Samoa, for instance, prostitution is illegal, whereas in New Zealand most aspects of the trade are decriminalised.

The British Overseas Territories (BOT) or alternatively, United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are 14 territories under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom. They are the parts of the British Empire that have not been granted independence or have voted to remain British territories. These territories do not form part of the United Kingdom. Most of the inhabited territories are internally self-governing, with the UK retaining responsibility for defence and foreign relations. The rest are either uninhabited or have a transitory population of military or scientific personnel.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Attard, Eddie (16 March 2014). "Past laws regulating the oldest profession in Malta". Times of Malta. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  2. ↑ "Sex Work Law - Countries". Sexuality, Poverty and Law. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  3. 1 2 "2008 Human Rights Reports: Malta". State.gov. 2009-02-25. Archived from the original on 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
  4. ↑ "Sexual Offences Laws - Malta". interpol.int. Archived from the original on 27 September 2001. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "Prostitution in Malta". Malteasing.com. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Sex, Lies, and Cobblestones: The Debaucherous Story Behind Malta's Most Notorious Street". Fodors Travel Guide. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  7. ↑ "Woman imprisoned for loitering at place known for prostitution in Gżira - TVM News". TVM English. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Dalli, Kim (19 October 2014). "When prostitution in a car was a crime... but not on boat". Times of Malta. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  9. ↑ Bradford, Ernie (2011). Siege Malta 1940-1943. Pen and Sword. p. 165. ISBN   9781848845848.
  10. ↑ Brincat, Joseph M. (2007). "Book reviews" (PDF). Melita Historica. 14: 448.
  11. ↑ Buttigieg, Emanuel (2011). Nobility, Faith and Masculinity: The Hospitaller Knights of Malta, c.1580-c.1700. A & C Black. p. 156. ISBN   9781441102430.
  12. 1 2 3 Savona-Ventura, Charles (2016). Contemporary Medicine in Malta [1798-1979]. Lulu.com. pp. 76–78. ISBN   9781326648992.
  13. ↑ Savona-Ventura, C. (1998). "Human Suffering during the Maltese Insurrection of 1798" (PDF). Storja. 3 (6): 58.
  14. ↑ Gregory, Desmond (1996). Malta, Britain, and the European Powers, 1793-1815. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. ISBN   9780838635902.
  15. ↑ Howell, Philip (7 April 1999). "Prostitution and racialised sexuality: the regulation of prostitution in Britain and the British Empire before the Contagious Diseases Acts". University of Cambridge. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.473.5799 .
  16. ↑ Gordon, Andrew (2015). The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN   9780141980331.
  17. 1 2 3 "Malta 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2018.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
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