Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has pledged to abolish prostitution in the country.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez made the announcement while speaking to supporters at the end of his Socialist Party’s 3-day congress in Valencia on Sunday.
Sanchez said the practice “enslaves” women.
According to a media report, in Spain prostitution was decriminalised in 1995 and in 2016, the United Nations (UN) estimated the country’s sex industry was worth 4.2 billion dollars.
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During a survey conducted in 2009 it came to light that up to 1 in 3 Spanish men paid for sex.
In another report published in 2009 it was suggested that the figure may be as high as 39% and a 2011 UN study cited Spain as the third biggest centre for prostitution in the world behind Thailand and Puerto Rico.
It has been reported that prostitution is currently not regulated in Spain.
There is no punishment for those who offer paid sexual services of their own will as long as it does not take place in public spaces.
However, in Spain, pimping or acting as a proxy between a sex worker and a potential client is illegal.
According to the report, as per estimates around 300,000 women work as prostitutes in Spain.
Socialist Party in 2019 in its election manifesto promised to abolish prostitution in Spain as a move to attract more female voters.
Pedro Sanchez’s party manifesto termed prostitution as “one of the cruellest aspects of the feminisation of poverty and one of the worst forms of violence against women”.
Two years have passed after the election, but Pedro Sanchez’s government has not taken any initative to outlaw prostitution.
Spanish police in 2017 stated that at least 80% of the women working as prostitutes in the country were being exploited against their will by a third party.