Speaking on radio programme People's Voice on PJD2 1300AM on Sunday, Duncan said many local women were becoming involved in what is known as the world oldest profession as call girls, among other things.

 

"We are regulating prostitution because up to now the main focus was on foreign women coming into St. Maarten to practice the trade. Because they're foreign women, you could control their entry into St. Maarten by permits and immigration. ... But how do you control a local Dutch girl from prostituting, because there is no permit to be given and that's why we are trying to regulate it," he said.

 

Duncan said government was not in the business of regulating what a woman does with her body. "It is not my business to check to see what a woman is doing with her body and whether she is doing it for money or not. It is not government's business and I'm saying it crudely because sometimes you need to wake up to these factors."

 

Women are protected by laws and they also get protection when they go into the business of prostitution, he said.

 

"There is a lot of regulation with regard to this system. It regulates their monies, their health, their income, how they are treated and all of that. Outside that, who is government to dictate to a woman what she does? And I'm putting this bluntly because when I hear the arguments, we fail to look at the big picture."

 

Duncan said that when he had been growing up in Aruba some 40-50 years ago women who were seen on the street too frequently had been picked up and given a "red card" to indicate that they were prostitutes. He said St. Maarten had the same law, which hasn't changed, but the practice of giving red cards had ceased.

 

He said monitoring the business of prostitution was "nothing new" or "brilliant" as it was in keeping with international rules.

 

"Now we can complain that international rules are too lax. ... But we live in a very global society and we are bound by a bunch of treaties," he said, adding that ignoring the treaties would be isolating oneself. "Even bigger countries are bound by these treaties, so we have to start to understand that."