If you’re a Ta’ Xbiex-based prostitute or a prospective client, you would be well advised to loiter on Abate Rigord Road or Embassy Way instead of the traditional Testaferrata Street and environs.
As of this week, loitering in Ta’ Xbiex has become a contravention specific only to seven particular streets: Giuseppe Cali, St John Of The Cross, Testaferrata, Emanuel Galizia, Enrico Mizzi, Giorgio Mitrovich and Sir Ugo Mifsud.
This curiously discriminatory piece of legislation was published as a bye-law in Monday’s Government Gazette. Once it comes into force in a month’s time, offenders will be liable to a fine of Lm30.
Even the title – “Loitering in Specific Streets in Ta’ Xbiex” – suggests at a glance that it may be perfectly permissible for prostitutes to ply their trade, so long as the street is not included in the bye-law’s schedule.
Ta’ Xbiex mayor Antoinette Vassallo admitted to MaltaToday that the wording of the new law is less than ideal for the purposes of combating local prostitution.
“The seven streets in question are in fact the worst areas for loitering,” she explained. “But when I originally asked (the central government) for a bye-law to curb this problem, I requested that the law refer also to the surrounding areas as well.”
Vassallo, who resides in one of the unspecified Ta’ Xbiex streets, is conscious of the possibility that the new law will simply force local prostitutes to seek pastures new.
“The moment I saw the law I realised immediately that (the government) had left out any reference to surrounding streets, as I had requested,” she said. “If the problem does spread to other streets as a result, I will have to request a new bye-law that also includes the newly affected streets.”
Vassallo added that the problem of prostitution has always been notoriously difficult for her council to tackle. “Prostitution itself is not actually illegal, because it takes place behind closed doors. The act of loitering is already a criminal offence, but this has not been enough to curb the problem.”
The aim of the new bye-law is to give the authorities more resources to combat a phenomenon, which Vassallo – echoing her husband, Labour MP Adrian Vassallo – claims “is getting worse with each passing year.”
But the new legislation may prove problematic for other reasons; not least, its arbitrary definition of “loitering” as “the persistent presence of any person for no apparent reason, however excluding persons who are carrying out a duty in the specific streets…”
Lawyers who spoke to MaltaToday cast doubt on whether any charges could actually be pressed against either prostitutes or clients on the basis of this definition. After all, most would consider prostitution to be a pretty “apparent” reason to be hanging around a certain area. It has also been pointed out that the streets in question are also home to numerous offices and businesses – including a language school and a number of clinics, both of which often entail the “persistent presence” of students or patients waiting outdoors for their lessons/appointments.
The Ta’ Xbiex local council is today expected to request a meeting with the Commissioner of Police specifically to discuss these and other fine points of enforcement. “The local council cannot enforce this law on its own; that is up to the police,” the Ta’ Xbiex mayor said, adding that efforts to date had not been successful mainly because of the Law Court’s tendency to let prostitutes off with a warning on the rare occasions when they are charged.
Issues such as police patrols, signage and providing information for residents will also be discussed.