Court rules ban on voluntary prostitution constitutional

By Choi Soo-hyang SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- The Constitutional Court ruled in a 6-3 vote Thursday that the law punishing voluntary prostitutes is constitutional. In 2012, the Seoul Northern District Court brought the anti-prostitution law before the constitutional court, after a woman, who was indicted for having sex in exchange for money, asked that the matter be reviewed by the high court. Under the law, prostitution is a crime that carries up to one year in prison or 3 million won (US$2,600) in fines, with an exception that those who are forced into prostitution are spared punishment. The lower court said in its petition that it is inappropriate for the state to criminally punish those involved in voluntary prostitution. The Constitutional Court, however, said even voluntary prostitution could violate the prostitute's autonomy by commercializing human sexuality. Prostitution is violent and exploitative in its nature, thus it cannot be seen as a free transaction between the seller and the buyer, the high court said. Since the sex trafficking law was first legislated in 2004, seven cases had been brought to the constitutional court by either people who purchased sex or those who ran prostitution businesses. The court, in all seven cases, either dismissed the petition or ruled that the existing rules are constitutional. Thursday's ruling was the first of its kind filed by a sex worker. Related to the latest ruling, a finding released by local pollster Realmeter showed 43.2 percent of South Korean adults supported the move to abolish the anti-prostitution law, slightly edging out those who opposed it, which stood at 37.4 percent. The survey was conducted on 538 people aged 19 years old or older and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points. scaaet@yna.co.kr (END)