Ending the Demand for Sex Trafficking Dorchen A. Leidholdt Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women is an international NGO, with consultative status to the UN s ECOSOC. Since 1988, the Coalition has conducted research into trafficking; has advocated for legislation on the local, national, regional, and international levels; and has supported education and victim services projects in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe.
Trafficking Overview Each year 4 million people are trafficked (UN). 2 million girls between age 5 and 15 brought into the sex industry (UN). The vast majority of trafficking victims, as many as 80%, are women and girls (UN). Anti-trafficking poster from Eastern Europe. It reads, They are not toys. Trafficking reaps an estimated $32 billion each year (UN ODC).
Trafficking Defined: What is Trafficking? The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, contains the first internationally agreed upon definition of human trafficking.
Trafficking Defined Trafficking in persons is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception,
Trafficking Defined of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation
Trafficking Defined Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;
Trafficking Defined The consent of a victim of trafficking to the intended exploitation... shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in [above] have been used.
Trafficking Defined The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered trafficking in persons even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article. Child shall mean any person under eighteen years of age.
The Trafficking Protocol to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Protocol ) Prioritizes trafficking in women and children. Criminalizes trafficking. Provides assistance & protection to victims. Seeks to prevent trafficking through international cooperation and information sharing.
The Trafficking Protocol to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Protocol ) The Protocol s definition of trafficking does not require movement of the victim across borders, international or otherwise. Trafficking is just as much trafficking when it occurs in the victim s own home village, town, or city.... Domestic trafficking is as serious a human rights violation as international trafficking (Sigma Huda).
Sex Trafficking and Demand The demand of prostitution buyers for commercial sex with unconditionally available women and girls provides the economic incentive for sex trafficking. There is growing consensus that addressing demand is key to the prevention of trafficking. Article 9.5 of the Trafficking Protocol to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime calls upon States Parties to take or strengthen legislative or other measures to discourage demand.
Sex Trafficking and Demand Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons In October 2004, Sigma Huda was appointed as the first Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons to the UN Commission on Human Rights. She called for action against the buyers of sexual services since it is the demand for sexual exploitation that promotes trafficking. She also called for recognition of the link between prostitution and trafficking.
Sex Trafficking and Demand Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons In one of her reports, Sigma Huda analyzes trafficking and demand. Her first key point is that most prostituted women and girls are victims of sex trafficking. For the most part, prostitution... usually does satisfy the elements of [the Trafficking Protocol s definition of] trafficking. It is rare that one finds a case in which the path to prostitution... [does] not involve, at the very least, an abuse of power and or an abuse of vulnerability.
Sex Trafficking and Demand Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons Power and vulnerability in this context must be understood to include power disparities based on gender, race, ethnicity, and poverty. She questions whether States parties with legalized prostitution industries... are not simply perpetuating widespread and systematic trafficking. As current conditions throughout the world attest, States parties that maintain legalized prostitution are far from satisfying this obligation.
Sex Trafficking, Gender Inequality, and Demand The prostitute user is simultaneously both the demand creator and... part of the trafficking chain. The prostitute user is... inflicting an additional and substantial harm to the trafficking victim, tantamount to rape.
Sex Trafficking, Racism and Demand Some prostitute-users actively seek prostituted women and children of different [races and ethnicities] for the purpose of exploiting these power disparities, engaging in a highly sexualized form of racism.... Women and girls oppressed on the basis of race, nationality, caste and/or colour are especially vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Prostitute users often abuse this vulnerability and, in so doing, abuse their own position of relative social power over trafficked persons.
Demand is global and local Demand is both a local and a global problem. It is global in the sense that it drives international sex trafficking and violates fundamental human rights.... Yet it is local in the sense that it is happening everywhere in our own villages, towns, cities mostly carried out by men who are part of the core fabric of our local communities. (Sigma Huda)
Two Different Approaches to Demand In Europe, there is a heated debate about how to address trafficking and the demand for prostitution. The Netherlands has adopted an approach that criminalizes forced trafficking while legalizing prostitution. Sweden has adopted a multi-pronged approach to curtailing demand.
Demand and legalization: the Dutch Approach Directs criminal sanctions against traffickers using force and coercion. Legalizes prostitution and regulates it as work. Based on the belief that legalization will curtail trafficking, child prostitution, and organized crime.
Demand and legalization: the Dutch reality In 1960 95% of prostituted people in Holland were Dutch; currently 80% are immigrants, almost all from poor countries. At least 70% of prostituted people in the Netherlands are undocumented. ChildRight reports that between 1996 and 2001, the number of prostituted children in Holland has increased from 4,000 to 15,000. One third are immigrants. Over the last decade, the Dutch sex industry has grown by 25%.
Dutch Anti-Trafficking Campaign Launched in January 2006 by the Dutch Crimestoppers Organization. Encourages buyers to be aware of signs of trafficking and to report potential victims Have you seen the signals? Fear, bruises, no pleasure in the job
Dutch Anti-Trafficking Campaign Buyers are major perpetrators of violence against prostituted women and girls. In one study, 85% of prostituted women surveyed reported having been raped in prostitution. How likely is it that prostitution buyers will become their protectors?
Sweden s Approach In the mid 1990 s, the government of Sweden faced a challenge. Bordering Eastern Europe, Sweden had become a major destination point for young women and girls who, in rapidly escalating numbers, were being trafficked across its borders and into its local brothels and strip clubs.
Sweden s Approach Sweden realized that supply was only part of the problem. Of equal importance was demand--created by Swedish men whose buying of women s and children s bodies made trafficking into Sweden profitable for traffickers. Sweden concluded that along with the traffickers, buyers should be held accountable and be sanctioned.
Sweden s Approach In 1999 Sweden enacted laws against violence against women to combat trafficking. The laws eliminated criminal penalties against prostituted people and funded services; directed strong penalties against pimps, brothel owners, and traffickers; and required the arrest and prosecution of buyers. At the same time, Sweden initiated an intensive public education campaign against demand for trafficking.
Sweden s Approach Margareta Winberg Former Deputy Prime Minister Margareta Winberg: Sweden recognizes that full gender equality... cannot be brought about as long as a subclass of women and children are victims of prostitution and trafficking. To do otherwise is to allow for the exclusion of a separate class of women, especially those who are economically and racially marginalized, from the universal protection of human dignity enshrined in international human rights instruments.
Sweden s Approach The result was a decline in sex trafficking into Sweden. The danger of prosecution coupled with diminished demand made Sweden unfriendly territory for traffickers. The Swedish model has influenced other jurisdictions: the Philippines, South Korea, Norway, and, this month, New York State.
The Philippines The Philippines passed the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 (Republic Act 9208) The law recognizes trafficked persons as victims. They are not penalized for crimes related to trafficking or for obeying the orders of traffickers The law penalizes any person who buys or engages the services of trafficked persons for prostitution as follows: (a) First offense six months of community service as may be determined by the court and a fine of Fifty thousand pesos (b) Second and subsequent offenses imprisonment of one year and a fine of One hundred thousand pesos
New York State In 2007, New York State passed and enacted comprehensive legislation against sex and labor trafficking. The law addresses demand in two ways: It makes it a felony-level offense to operate a sex tourism business in New York State. It raises the penalty for patronizing a prostitutute to a A misdemeanor.
CATW Project to Curb the Demand for Prostitution In 2005 CATW initiated a series of projects world wide to curb the demand for prostitution and trafficking The projects educate youth and train law enforcement officials to recognize trafficking victims, and support laws that enforce sanctions against buyers
CATW Project to Curb the Demand for Prostitution The Philippines and Mexico Changes the sexual attitudes of young men through innovative media. The video, First Time, critiques the coming of age rite in which teenage boys are encouraged to have their first sexual experience with a prostituted girl or young woman. Who among these boys is proud to have become a man last night?
CATW Project to Curb the Demand for Prostitution The Philippines and Mexico Disseminates an educational manual that challenges concepts of masculinity centered around sexual violence and exploitation.
Young Men s Camps in the Philippines CATW-AP holds young men s camps in the Philippines to educate boys on gender, sexuality and prostitution. About 50 boys participate in each of the camps.
Young Men s Camps in the Philippines Graduates testify about how the sessions have affected them, encouraging them to teach other young men to work against rape and prostitution First is for me to internalize the lessons I have learned and share them with my friends and then with different people in our school and in our community.
Survivors Speak Out Against the In all of the projects to curb demand, survivors of trafficking and prostitution play a critical role in educating the public and prostitution buyers. Demand Filipina survivors of prostitution by U.S. servicemen are at the forefront of the campaign linking militarism to the demand for sexual exploitation. Filipina Survivors Say No to Prostitution
CATW Project to Curb Male Demand for Prostitution India Trains local police, NGOs and others to implement policies and programs that penalize demand In 2005-20006, CATW-AP joined CATW in Mumbai to train police and prepare a manual for police and other government agencies focusing on the protection of victims in prostitution and decreasing the demand through closure of brothels and arrest of buyers
CATW Project to Curb Demand for Prostitution The Philippines and Mexico Educate youth in communities where prostitution flourishes. Comic books teach girls and boys about the reality and danger of sexual exploitation. Many months passed by in that way until she couldn t cry anymore. Everything hurt, my breasts, my legs, my entire body. They made me have sex every 15 days, then every week, then every day.
Joint project by the European Women s Lobby and CATW Supports NGOs working in 13 countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Albania, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro. Raises awareness about gender equality, demand, and the links between trafficking and prostitution.
Country Project: Bulgaria Distributes surveys, conducts awareness campaigns and disseminates information about trafficking and its links to prostitution. Discourages the Bulgarian government from legalizing prostitution.
Country Project: Hungary Promotes public education campaign to discourage demand. Establishes a drop-in center for trafficking victims. Produces video ads about the harm of prostitution and trafficking and distributes them nationwide.
Country Project: Lithuania It is shameful to buy a woman! Sooner or later everybody will find out about it! Trains groups on demand. Institutes a poster campaign in public places to raise awareness about the benefits of penalizing buyers: Slogan: She could be your daughter, sister Holds a conference to educate parliament members.
For more information about the Coalition and Human Trafficking International: www.catwinternational.org Asia-Pacific: www.catw-ap.org Australia: www.catwa.com