IBIZA has approved the creation of the first-ever cooperative for prostitutes, meaning they can pay taxes and Social Security guaranteeing them a State pension, sick and maternity pay.
They are protected from the hands of pimps and have legal and tax advisors on hand to offer them assistance, as well as qualified gynaecologists to give them specialist advice and regular examinations.
María José López Armesto, 42, has spent two years getting her plan approved, but is now celebrating her success with the Sealeer Cooperative.
“Behind every prostitute is a hungry family, usually with children to keep fed and clothed,” says María José.
“Society forces these girls into prostitution because, if they do not have the opportunity to get a normal, everyday job, they have to do something to earn a living.”
Speaking of the importance of the Sealeer Cooperative, the team leader says: “Many of our members have been practising prostitution for eight years or more. Just imagine if they'd been able to pay their Social Security all that time, how much of a State pension it would have guaranteed them when they retired.”
The cooperative has five leaders, all voluntary, and is set up as a charity.
Women who join pay 300 euros, and the minimum term for remaining part of the organisation is four years, except for in 'extenuating circumstances' – such as finding a 'real' job, illness, family problems or returning to her country of origin where she is not Spanish.
In the event a woman wants to leave the cooperative, her 300 euros are refunded.
But as a member, she can access medical services via the mutual company, including an on-site gynaecologist, keeping her smear tests up to date – and also via the national health system, which they could not use before as they were working for cash in hand.
Women joining are expected to have legal residence documents, and must not be under a pimp or 'Madam', and have to be aged 18 or over.
Most are aged between 22 and 32 and come from Spain, Italy and countries in Eastern Europe, but there are no restrictions on nationality or upper age limits.
María José says most of the members are 'ashamed' to say they work as prostitutes, but she tells them that 'as long as nobody is forcing them into it', and as long as they are paid for their work and do not have to hand over the majority to a pimp, then they are no different from any other worker.
“They are just the same as, say, a cashier in a supermarket – we're all prostitutes at the end of the day,” says María José.
“If they do it through their own free will, then everyone is entitled to do what they want with their own bodies.”
Although the ongoing debate about whether or not prostitution should be legalised is a global issue, María José insists that if it is regulated, as it is through the cooperative, then the women are protected from trafficking and violence, are free agents, and have full legal rights, as well as contributing financially to society.
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