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South Africa is mulling whether to legalize prostitution during the FIFA World Cup 2010. A similar controversy took place in Germany during the 2006 World Cup.
For South Africa, the situation is more scary. With an AIDS epidemic in the country, officials fear that rampant unprotected sex could lead to a more aggressive spread of HIV during the Cup.
Due to the rise in demand, health bosses want the government to consider making prostitution legal so sex workers can come forward to be screened for sexually transmitted infections and get free condoms, reports suggest.
Eric Harper, director of the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce, said: "It could be a potential recipe for disaster both for clients and sex workers."
An estimated 5.2 million people were living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa in 2008, more than in any other country.1 It is believed that in 2008, over 250,000 South Africans died of AIDS.
"Where there's demand there will be a supply," Harper told CNN.
He said that, while there are no accurate figures for the number of sex workers in South Africa, his organization believes there are 3,000 in Cape Town alone.
Prostitution is illegal in South Africa, but the law is currently being reviewed as part of a larger assessment of all sexual offenses. Harper believes decriminalizing prostitution can help control the spread of HIV.
"Throughout the world people have acknowledged that if you want to reduce HIV you need to be able to engage the population and address human rights concerns," he told CNN.
"One of the key messages is that decriminalization is a way of accessing sex workers."
Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com
