The 2010 Football World Cup and the Regulation of Sex Work in South Africa

Abstract

While the South African government expected the 2010 Football World Cup to stimulate economic growth and infrastructure development, and to foster a sense of national unity amongst its citizens, members of the public and the media anticipated an increased demand for commercial sex. The call, in 2007, by the National Commissioner of Police to legalise sex work for the duration of the tournament stimulated debates on the legal status of sex work. Media reports show how advocates for sex workers' rights used the publicity around the event to argue for the legalisation of sex work and the protection of sex workers' human rights. However, these calls were persistently overshadowed by claims that up to 40,000 foreign women would be trafficked into the country for sex work, and claims that many children would be abducted or trafficked for the same purposes. Similar claims have been made in the past in relation to other large sporting events, especially the 2006 Football World Cup held in...