Prostitutes in Spain are to be granted workers’ rights, contracts of employment and benefits after a landmark ruling in a Barcelona court.
Although prostitution was decriminalized in Spain in 1995, the workers themselves have always been denied basic working rights. The ruling states that prostitutes must be given employment contracts by brothel owners. In keeping with the thread of common sense, pimping and trafficking remain illegal.
The ruling was made as a result of a raid performed on a Barcelona city center massage parlor in which three prostitutes were found to be working. Judge Juan Augustin Maragall ruled that the parlor in question had violated their workers’ rights and decreed that they will have to pay back almost three years of backdated social security payments.
The ruling is yet to be made final, however. It was confirmed in a civil court and may yet be challenged or appealed to the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia.
