Classified sex ads: should they be banned?

In Spain there is a legal loophole when it comes to prostitution: it is not regulated or prohibited, even though the government has expressed its desire to do away with it, based on the conviction that most sex workers are in the hands of mafias. In its last report about classified ads for prostitutes in the press, the Council of State - an advisory board of legal experts, former ministers and high-ranking civil servants - has given the government a fresh argument for prohibiting this form of advertising, since, they say, self-regulation has proven to be insufficient. The Health, Social Policy and Equality Ministry has taken up the gauntlet, and has announced that it "will establish a calendar" for prohibiting these ads, although it hopes to get "as much consensus as possible in parliament and in the media."

"Sex ads bring in a lot of money and the media don't want to get rid of them"

The papers ask why, if prostitution is not prohibited, ads for it should be

"Eliminating the ads would make the conditions of these women worse"

The Council of State, the government and feminist organizations point to the degrading treatment of women who sell their bodies. "They are displayed and offered up as nothing more than meat. A serious newspaper can't defend equality while contributing to inequality. But [sex ads] bring in substantial amounts of money and the media don't want to get rid of them," says Charo Carracedo, from the Platform for Abolishing Prostitution.

Ángela Cerrillo, president of the female jurists' association Themis, agrees: "[Prostitution] entails degrading, inhumane treatment, and advertising it in the media serves the terrible problem of sex trafficking and covers up a business where there are powerful interests at stake."

Newspaper publishers do not share this opinion. They totally reject the Council of State's report and say they are "outraged" because the body has not listened to their proposals. They are also quick to point out that they established a self-regulatory code to eliminate photos and explicit texts from classified ads that could offend readers. The newspapers committed to avoiding carrying messages that threaten personal dignity or encourage abuse, sexual exploitation or degrading, criminal situations. But these objectives have not been totally met.

The publishers say that printing these ads is legal, and that they are protected by the constitutional right to freedom of the press. "If the public powers think that prostitution is a criminal activity or a health hazard, they should make it illegal." If it's not prohibited, why should advertising it be? This is what the Association of Spanish Newspaper Publishers (AEDE) wonders.

"It might be reasonable to start out by prohibiting prostitution," says Ángela Cerrilo. "But I don't think it would be easy." "In politics," says Charo Carracedo, "first there must always be an educational process, so that society understands, and the legitimacy of social tolerance is questioned more and more. That's why it would help to get rid of these ads in the press," she says.

Publishers, who have already suffered from strict restrictions regarding ads for alcohol, tobacco and gambling, say they have the right to decide what advertisements "for legal activities" they print on their pages. Censorship of any kind, they say, would violate both the advertisers' freedom of expression as well as the freedom for companies and individuals to advertise. They say that this would go against Article 20 of the Constitution and would discriminate against the printed press over other forms of media.

In effect, the Council of State report defends the need to eliminate these ads in the print media and suggests a much looser regulation for the internet. For Daniel Solana, creative director and founder of the agency DoubleYou, it is "strange" that the press is being targeted: "Newspapers are a small part of the public promotion of professional activities or brands. To limit the prohibition to the press is to look at the world from the wrong perspective. The internet dilutes content and makes it flow," he says. That's why he thinks that, technically, it doesn't make much sense, because this type of publicity "would seek out other, much more direct ways of reaching the public."

The Council of State justifies its focus on the print media because they think that it is much easier for minors to access: "It could favor the practice of prostitution at an early age," they say, as well as "possibly inciting minors to exercise it." Prohibiting these ads in the press and not online seems to be a Band-Aid solution. As Solana points out, the internet allows advertisers to reach broader, more vulnerable segments of the population, such as minors. "The internet is a universal, mass medium, where no one can limit anything. There are, of course, measures that help filter content, but it's very hard to ban the self-promotion of professional services, whether we're talking about lawyers, real estate agents or sex workers," he adds.

The government advocates a "specific regulation" of this activity, but there are laws that protect women's dignity. In the field of advertising, it is more and more difficult to find examples that undermine it. Autocontrol, the association made up of advertisers, agencies and media outlets that champions self-regulation, defends honest, truthful advertising. Last year it received four complaints about the portrayal of women in advertising. Of the 6,336 ads that were checked before being aired, Autocontrol made observations in just 30 cases (37 percent less than the previous year). Of the four gender-related complaints, the advertising jury upheld two: one against the fashion brand Polo & Co and another against the gambling website Bet-at-home. The jury found that they use the female body "in a clearly instrumental way," as a "mere object."

Yet the association has no authority over the content of classified ads, which are often much more degrading to women. Spanish law doesn't regulate them per se, but it does protect the individual's right to dignity, equality and non-discrimination, the right to freedom from injury to honor, privacy and self-image. According to the advertising law, ads that depict women in a degrading way, or which use their bodies as a mere object that has nothing to do with the product being advertised, are illegal. The 2007 equality law makes any advertisement that acts in a discriminating way illegal, and the 2010 audiovisual communication law prohibits the airing of TV commercials that pose a serious risk to the physical, mental or moral development of minors, between the hours of 6am and 10pm.

It also bans pornographic programs on free-to-air TV. In addition, the 2002 information society services law prohibits the dissemination of content that may be harmful to children and young people.

However, the Association of Communication Users (AUC) thinks that classified ads might be protected by these laws. As they see it, regulation could affect the content of ads. This would include their format and presentation, such as prohibiting graphic illustration (photos, drawings, etc.), banning the use of certain expressions, establishing size and format restrictions, and dictating their location (never on the cover or in general sections). The AUC advocates a model of co-regulation, such as the one used in pay-per-call services: a regulatory legal framework, a complementary ethical code and its application in a committee made up of publishers, social organizations and members of the government.

The media also have their own ethical codes regarding advertising. They don't usually allow ads when there is an indication of criminal or fraudulent activity behind them. Perhaps this is why the police, when they break up a human-trafficking ring, include in their reports any related ads in the media, if they were any. But not everyone thinks that prostitution is controlled by mafias. Cristina Garaizábal, the spokesperson of Hetaira, a group in favor of regulating the rights of sex workers, calls the Council of State report "vague and abstract." As for prohibiting or restricting sex ads, she argues that it would be a "free and easy measure for the government, but an ineffective one, because the mafias aren't behind most of the ads." "If they're so concerned about the mafias, they should focus on ads for clothes and shoes; it's a proven fact that many of those products are made by children who work and endure conditions of slavery in southeast Asia." For Hetaria, eliminating these ads "would ultimately make the conditions in which these women live and work even worse."