Posters, increased police presence, fines and assistance with social welfare, labour and health issues are all part of a new campaign being run by the Málaga Council and the Asociación de Vecinos Centro Sur.
The object of the campaign, which is focused on the Colón de Alameda area of the city, is to combat or regulate prostitution in the area. The campaign actually began about eighteen month ago but only now are the posters going up.
‘ No contribuyas a la degradación del barrio, no seas cómplice’ (Do not contribute to the degradation of the neighbourhood, do not be an accomplice) is the slogan of the campaign which also sees members of the Social Services visiting the area each night to explain to ‘customers’ that their actions are violating the rights of these girls who, in many cases, are not there because they actually want to be. The Social Services teams also offer advice to the prostitutes and, in the past three years, have found other employment for around thirty girls who decided a change of profession was in order.
The biggest impact on street prostitution, however, is expected to be the new municipal ordinances which are currently being formulated. These include fines for people soliciting the services of prostitutes, stricter regulation of clubs and protection for the girls engaged in the oldest profession.
The draft ordinances will be made available to local organisations (ONG’s) for their input in March 2008. One month later, the political groups will be able to have their say and in May the draft will be checked thoroughly by the legal department before being put on public display in June. It would then more than likely come into effect at the end of 2008, if all goes smoothly.