Prostitution, human trafficking and sexual exploitation

Prostitution Prostitution is sexual activity in exchange for payment Street prostitution Escort services Sex tourism  “Trips organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary purpose of effecting a commercial sexual relationship by the tourist with residents at the destination”

Legal approaches Abolition Regulation Legalisation Decriminalisation Feminism

Prostitution in the Netherlands

Prostitution is defined as a legal profession Brothels are legal businesses Approximately prostitutes 70 % of prostitutes are foreigners One of the biggest destinations for victims of human trafficking tml tml

Prostitution in Sweden Regarded as violence against women Illegal to buy sex since 1999 – the customer is seen as exploiting the prostitute Reasons for the law  Reduce prostitution  A political message  To decrease human trafficking

Experiences in Sweden Street prostitution decreased by 40 % from 1999 to 2003 Same period 200 buyers got a fine  Small percentage of the total number of clients Number of victims of human trafficking was increased from to in 2003 No official evaluation made

Negative consequences of prostitution Violence against women STDs Exploitation of women Encourages human trafficking

Human trafficking The trafficking of human beings is the recruitment, transportation, harbouring, or receipt of people for the purpose of exploitation. Estimated men, women and children are trafficked across boarders each year 80 % of them are women and girls Majority trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation Trafficking is a lucrative industry

The victims Usually the most poor and vulnerable people in a region Promised a good job in another country – better life The woman is forced into prostitution Estimated that 2/3 of the victims come from Eastern Europe  ¾ have never worked as prostitutes before Other countries are Phillipines, Thailand, Brazil...

Causes of human trafficking Unemployment Poverty Organised crime Profitability Insufficient penalties for traffickers  UN: ”Governments and human rights organizations alike have simply judged the woman guilty of prostitution and minimized the trafficker's role." Demand for prostitutes

How to reduce human trafficking? Government actions  Making human trafficking illegal  Raise awareness  Potential victims  Police, social welfare workers  Clients of prostitution

Possible questions for debate Should prostitution be legal or illegal? Should buying sex be legal or illegal? What other measures can be used to limit prostitution? How to solve the negative consequences of prostitution? How to avoid and stop human trafficking?