Prostitution reform had to be put on the back burner during the last legislature after Cabinet disagreed on how to tackle the black-market sex trade, sources have said. 

Senior government members told Times of Malta that during the last administration the office of the Prime Minister had hoped to come out with a comprehensive reform on the laws governing prostitution.

However, despite several meetings and “often heated” discussions on the matter, ministers could not come to an agreement on how to legislate.

“There are two different schools of thought on this,” one minister said.

“Whenever the issue was brought up, there was no agreement on whether to go for simply decriminalising prostitution, or something that leaned more towards legalising all sex work and the purchasing of sex.”

How Cabinet disagreed

Systems discussed ranged from the so-called German model, which completely legalises prostitution and brothels, to that favoured in Nordic countries, which decriminalises the act for the prostitute but still punishes those paying for sex and pimps.

Another member of the Cabinet said that while certain ministers had been all for a “very liberal” position on prostitution, others such as former equality minister Helena Dalli had drawn a red line on the matter, saying she would not spearhead any reform that saw vulnerable people used for sex. 

Contacted about the issue, Dr Dalli last week declined to comment, insisting that Cabinet meetings were confidential.   

Meanwhile, the Cabinet sources said that on the other end of the debate had been a number of ministers who argued that so-called gentlemen’s clubs (strip clubs) generated a substantial economic spill-over.

“At the time, around 2015, the conversation was mostly about strip clubs, not massage parlours – as those hadn’t become as much of an issue yet. There were some who felt we should be capitalising more on this sector,” one source said. 

In fact, the government had even commissioned a study on the economic output of gentlemen’s clubs and the impact different legislative interventions could have.   

Times of Malta is informed that the report has since been shelved. 

What the reform now proposes

Earlier this month, Reforms Parliamentary Secretary Julia Farrugia Portelli announced a public consultation on the matter, inviting stakeholders to give their views on the way forward. 

And while a White Paper on prostitution and human trafficking does not get into the specifics of any legislative changes, Ms Farrugia Portelli said decriminalising prostitution would be a key pillar.

Ms Farrugia Portelli did not comment when asked about the impasse that had held back the reform between 2013 and 2017, saying only that the matter was now under her responsibility and she was working to deliver change. 

Among other things, the consultation document suggests requiring massage parlours to have a specific licence to operate. 

Massage parlours have come under scrutiny over concerns about exploitative practices.

According to the document, a number of court cases in recent years have confirmed that some are hiring women and then subjecting them to exploitation or sex work. 

A licensing regime, the document reads, could address and end those practices, while also protecting the interests of qualified massage therapists. 

The consultation period closes at the end of October. Feedback can be sent to reforms@gov.mt.