Mexico City lawmakers have given the green light to decriminalize sex work in the capital, hoping it will be a first step to a crackdown on sex trafficking that traps thousands of Mexican women and children.
Lawmakers in Mexico City's Congress on Friday voted 38-0, with eight abstentions, in favor of a bill to remove a line in the Civic Culture Law that said prostitutes and their clients can be fined or arrested if neighbors complained.
Temistocles Villanueva, a local representative with the ruling center-left Morena party, said the new law recognizes that people have the right to engage in sex work. "It's a first step that has to lead to regulation of sex work, to fight human trafficking and strengthen the rights of sex workers," he said. "Exercising sexuality in our country is still a taboo topic that few of us dare to talk about."