UNITED NATIONS, Oct 3 (IPS) – Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, calls prostitution a “system of violence” that does not benefit society at all, especially the women and girls who belong to it. this system are forced.
Alsalem spoke at the Roosevelt Public Policy House in New York on Wednesday, October 2, to discuss her special report stating that prostitution is a form of violence against women and girls. The report was first made public in June 2024, where it was presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. More than 60 Member States have endorsed the report and its findings, including but not limited to Ghana, South Africa, Egypt, Norway, Sweden, Colombia, France, Bangladesh, India and Nigeria.
Alsalem received more than 300 submissions for the report from multiple stakeholders, including civil society groups, academia, experts, policymakers and, most importantly, women from around the world with real-world experience.
Around the world, the exploitation of women and girls through prostitution and sex trafficking is a widespread problem that threatens their safety and rights. Alsalem noted that many prostitution systems are based on patriarchal norms that place abuse of power in the hands of mostly men, who are largely the “buyers” or profiteers in the sex industry. Deeper economic inequalities and the complexity of humanitarian emergencies have only further pushed women and girls out of systems that would have protected and empowered them.
Alsalem noted that attempts to normalize prostitution or recognize it as a form of labor, for example by calling it “sex work,” do more harm by scrutinizing the women who experience it. take place within the system, such as the physical and psychological harm they experience under this umbrella of ‘labor’.
According to Alsalem, pornography should also be classified as a form of prostitution and violence against women in general. She noted that its proliferation has only normalized acts of violence and harmful attitudes towards women and girls. Alsalem says that the online platforms that host pornographic material only further encourage and promote these acts and other forms of coercive and non-consensual sexual acts.
Regardless of the platform, how it is branded or how one enters the trade, the system of prostitution is based on the commodification of the body to undergo physical activity and therefore cannot be considered consent, Alsalem argues.
“Trying to pretend that there is somehow consent in prostitution, that women want to do this, is actually pointless in a context like prostitution, because the concept of consent is actually irrelevant when there are systems of exploitation and violence ” she said. “And when the term of consent is weaponized, while we fully know that whatever notion of consent women have – or at least some of them – is being extorted through physical coercion, manipulation and violence.”
When it comes to the legal frameworks surrounding prostitution, this also reveals the contradictions within countries regarding the letter of the law versus its regulation in practice. The report indicates that certain approaches actually do little to discourage “buyers” or “organizers” from participating in prostitution schemes.
Criminalizing prostitution increases the likelihood that prostitutes will be punished through prosecution and incarceration, social exclusion, and even more abuse by law enforcement. In fact, with this approach it is rare for the ‘buyers’ to be punished or for third parties to be held accountable. Under the regulatory approach, legal prostitution provides state control through commercial institutions and federal or state laws, including tax laws that benefit them, often at the expense of sex workers. Decriminalizing prostitution allows all parties to operate without fear of prosecution; However, this has also resulted in increased demand, and has not stopped exploitative actors from taking advantage of vulnerable women and girls and involving them in the sex industry.
The report advocates the abolition approach, also known as the ‘Equality Model’ or the ‘Nordic Model’. Under this model, third parties (the ‘organizers’) and buyers are criminalized for their involvement in purchasing and promoting sex, while sex workers are not criminally prosecuted. Instead, greater investment is being made in exit options for sex workers to ensure alternative employment, economic stability, housing and support to address trauma and even substance abuse where necessary. In the report, Alsalem notes that the Nordic model upholds international standards on sexual exploitation and human trafficking by criminalizing third parties, and recognizes that the majority of sex workers are women and girls.
However, this approach could have its limitations, as a report from the London School of Economics (LSE) notes that sex trafficking legislation still varies between different countries implementing this model, the safety of sex workers remains uncertain and they still face at risk from police work. For migrant sex workers, their status prevents them from accessing social protection, and under immigration laws, prostitution can be grounds for deportation.
The problems present in current legal models for prostitution reflect some of the institutional structures that maintain the status quo in which sex workers are exploited and left unprotected. At the same time, they also reflect a broader cultural issue about how prostitution, and more broadly, sex, is discussed and perceived.
“Besides being a human rights violation that requires legal solutions, the report makes it very clear that we are dealing with a cultural issue,” said Taina Bien-Aimé, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. She added that other forms of violence against women, such as intimate partner violence, sexual violence and harassment, are now recognized as forms of abuse.
“But for some reason, because money is exchanged in prostitution, this is somehow seen outside the context of male violence and discrimination, especially against women and girls.”
In its report, Alsalem makes recommendations to governments on how they can reform their prostitution legislation and policies towards one that is more inclusive of human rights and centers on the experiences of the women and girls forced into are to participate. Governments must also take action to address the root causes of prostitution and the factors that put women and girls at greater risk.
“The importance of this report also lies in its recommendations, in which the Special Rapporteur asks jurisdictions and Member States around the world to find legislative and policy solutions to this blatant violation of human rights,” Bien-Aimé said.
When asked to elaborate on the steps that international actors such as the United Nations should take, Alsalem referred to the recommendation that UN agencies should also adopt a rights-based approach to prostitution. Alsalem noted that she had contacted several UN agencies. In particular, she is in “ongoing discussions” with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO), regarding her recommendation that these bodies conduct research into the broader impacts of prostitution on survivors within their health and healthcare focus. work.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Frontline Women’s Fund and local community groups play an important role in raising awareness of this issue. Alsalem says they need to come together to listen to survivors of prostitution and engage with all actors involved in the issue.
“We see that in places where decision-making takes place, including governments and parliaments, when the issue is discussed, law is prepared or policy is revised, some have privileged access to these decision-making places. advocating for full legalization of all aspects, while those advocating the abolition model… cannot have the same access, and that includes survivors.”
IPS UN agency report
Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
Follow IPS News UN Bureau on Instagram
© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
