PP and Vox reject PSPV's anti-prostitution measures in a harsh debate over the Ábalos case.

Yesterday, the PP and Vox defeated two proposals from the PSPV (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) to combat prostitution, which had been unsuccessfully pursued since the last legislative session, in the Valencian Parliament. The lack of an agreement between the Socialists and Compromís prevented the Botànic from legislating along abolitionist lines and left the PSPV's proposals to ban the dissemination of any advertising alluding to prostitution and to establish sanctions for johns deadlocked. The PP and Vox dusted off the debate from the dustbin and put it on the agenda last Tuesday, only to call for its debate two days later, amid the scandal surrounding the audio recordings in which José Luis Ábalos and Koldo García spoke about women who engage in prostitution. Read also The Corts Dana commission has not yet invited the victims as it does not have the contacts. Hector Sanjuán While in some cases it seems difficult to speed up parliamentary proceedings—as seen yesterday when the victims of the Dana have not yet been invited to appear before the Corts—in others, such as the Equality Committee, current events have encouraged the Conservative majority to alter the Corts' schedule. And yesterday, a debate took place that interested the PP and Vox. Thus, in the midst of the aftermath of the controversial audio recordings, two proposals from the PSPV (Socialist Party of Catalonia) were put forward to amend Law 14/2010 on public shows and combat advertising for these types of services, and to amend Highway Law 6/1991 to consider the solicitation or acceptance of paid sexual services a serious offense. In their initiatives, the Socialists placed special emphasis on eliminating the main cause of prostitution: demand. Prostitution exists because there are men willing to pay for a woman's body, which is why the proposal contemplates sanctioning johns, the parliamentary group explained. The socialist initiatives focused their attention on punishing the pimp However, these two proposals failed to advance due to the refusal of the PP and Vox to support them in the Equality Commission. However, rather than focusing on the content of the PNL, both parties sought to take advantage of the context to harshly attack their political rivals and bring the most sordid aspect of the alleged corruption case plaguing the PSOE to the Valencian Parliament. The popular Verónica Marcos called for an end "once and for all to this abolitionist farce" by the PSPV (Socialist Party of Catalonia) and for the Socialists "to stop using women to whitewash their fellow party members." In a harsh tone, Marcos pointed out that "while there are Socialist leaders who behave like real pimps, there are prostituted women who want to leave and remain invisible." "Behind that banner of equality and feminism, there were catalogs of prostitutes to be placed for the satisfaction of certain leaders," she emphasized. Marcos was unequivocal: "They promise decent solutions for prostituted women, but they give them public salaries to continue kneeling before their bosses." They promise dignified solutions for prostituted women, but they give them public salaries to continue kneeling before their bosses. Verónica Marcos, PP deputy For her part, far-right MP Ángeles Criado denounced the fact that "it's highly contradictory that they're presenting initiatives to combat prostitution when they're neck-deep in it and treat women like mere objects. Let's not forget Ábalos and Koldo, who had a team of Brazilian prostitutes entertaining Ministry contractors." PSPV MP Rosa Peris expressed her displeasure at the "bad intentions" of the PP and Vox in bringing this debate to the regional parliament, but reaffirmed her party's abolitionist stance and its desire to open the debate. Peris called for the need to end "the new form of slavery of the 21st century," while focusing on "those who sustain it, those who pay." Read also Oltra questions Bravo's abolitionist strategy: "Broad brushes are not useful in politics." Hector Sanjuán Compromís, which abstained from the Socialist proposals, used the debate to propose a comprehensive, personalized plan to guarantee the rights of people in prostitution and to make clear her party's position that simply imposing sanctions is not enough: it is necessary to guarantee dignified alternatives for victims, argued Verònica Ruiz. This difference of opinion with the PSPV (Socialist Party of Catalonia) already prevented both parties from legislating on this issue during their two terms together.