Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said that he wants to eliminate prostitution from the country, as it enslaves women.
Spain legalized prostitution in 1995, after which this market has grown steadily. According to a report in the Guardian, Spain's domestic sex trade could be worth $26.5 billion. Three lakh people work in this profession.
At the conference in Valencia city, Sanchez said, 'There is a commitment emerging from this conference, which I will implement. We will end prostitution which enslaves women.
There are no rules regarding the profession of prostitution in Spain. However, sexual harassment and pimping of women is a crime. But there is no punishment for providing sex services for money voluntarily, and the laws focus on human trafficking.
Most brothels are run from hotels or lodges etc. There was a survey in 2009, in which 30 percent of men said that they have had sex for money at least once. This survey was done by the government organization Social Investigation Center.
Pedro Sanchez became prime minister in January last year after his party won the election for the second time in a row. However, he could not get a majority. In April 2019, the party released its manifesto keeping women at the center and contested the elections on the same. The manifesto called for making prostitution illegal, which was seen as a move to woo women, voters.
