At the time of the study, paid sex equated to approximately 0. In the s, the majority of sex workers in Spain were of Spanish origin, but by the early s, an overwhelming percentage were migrants. Current estimates put the number of women who engage in prostitution in the country at well over , It was, however, decriminalized in a court ruling in , which means that it is not illegal to sell sexual services to another person.
Gaining profit from the prostitution of another shall incur the same penalty, even with the consent of that person. That way the brothel owners can claim that they are simply renting out space for personal use, and that they do not control nor profit off of whatever acts happen to be performed within those rooms.
In other words, the women are considered to be under their own employ even though what they do is not considered to be work. But because prostitution is not considered to be a job, they therefore can claim no legal recognition, benefits or protections. During the coronavirus pandemic, brothels could file for an ERTE just like any other legal business. This allowed them to pay their employees full or partial salary and avoid going bankrupt while the restrictions prevented them from opening.
They were left to fend for themselves. How is it possible that all parties involved selling sex enjoy legal protections of one kind or another except for the sex workers themselves? It was the first fully independent union formed by sex workers in Spain and was officially registered as a trade union with Spain's Labor Ministry , which approved and accepted its registration.
This apparent pivot in legal opinion apparently had to do with certain details contained in the original ruling versus the information contained within the appeal.
