1. Prostitution and Human Rights
What are the Issues?
Mandy Swygart-Hobaugh, Ph. D.
World of Differences:
Languages, Cultures, and Human Rights Conference

2. What are “human rights”?
“rights that belong to an individual or group of individuals as a consequence of being human. They refer to a wide continuum of values or capabilities thought to enhance human agency and declared to be universal in character, in some sense equally claimed for all human beings.”1
1Encyclopedia Britannica Online. (2005). Human rights. Retrieved November 17, 2005, from

3. What are “human rights”?
UN “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”
Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 23: Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.2
2United Nations. ( ). Universal declaration of human rights. Retrieved November 17, 2005, from

4. How does prostitution violate human rights?
Pro-abolition of prostitution: Prostitution as inherently exploitative and dehumanizing, regardless if “chosen” or “forced”
Article 4: Prostitution as sexual “slavery”
Article 5: Prostitution as “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment”
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)
Video clip3
CATW beliefs:
-- We believe in the fundamental human right to be free of sexual exploitation in all its forms
-- We believe sexual exploitation includes sex harassment, rape, incest abuse, wife abuse, pornography and prostitution.
-- We believe local and global sex industries are systematically violating women’s rights on an ever increasing scale.
-- we believe sexual exploitation violates the human rights of anyone subjected to it, whether female or male, adult or child.
-- We believe sexual exploitation preys on women and children made vulnerable by poverty.
-- We believe sexual exploitation is a vehicle for racism and “first world” domination.
--All prostitution exploits women, regardless of women's consent.(from CATW website)
3Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW). (2000). So deep a violence: Prostitution, trafficking, and the global sex industry. North Amherst, MA: CATW.

5. Prostitution=Sex Trafficking & Sexual Slavery
“some 200,000 sex slaves worldwide bringing…an annual profit of $10.5 billion”
Thailand—”estimated 35,000 women working as brothel slaves” of 500,000 to one million prostitutes.
“In 1996 nearly five million sex tourists from the U.S., Western Europe, Australia, and Japan visited Thailand…brought in about $26.2 billion—thirteen times more than Thailand earned by building and exporting computers”
“some 50,000 women and children are trafficked into the U.S. each year, mainly from Asia and Latin America”4
4Leuchtag, A. (2003, Jan/Feb). Human rights, sex trafficking, and prostitution. The Humanist,

6. Combating Sex Trafficking
UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children
“The purposes of this Protocol are: (a) To prevent and combat trafficking in persons, paying particular attention to women and children; (b) To protect and assist the victims of such trafficking, with full respect for their human rights; and (c) To promote cooperation among States Parties in order to meet those objectives.”5
UN protocol
For the purposes of this Protocol:
( a ) "Trafficking in persons" shall mean 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, 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. 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;
( b ) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph ( a ) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph ( a ) have been used;
Criminalization
1. Each State Party shall adopt such legislative and other measures as may be necessary to establish as criminal offences the conduct set forth in article 3 of this Protocol, when committed intentionally.
Assistance to and protection of victims of trafficking in persons
1. In appropriate cases and to the extent possible under its domestic law, each State Party shall protect the privacy and identity of victims of trafficking in persons, including, inter alia, by making legal proceedings relating to such trafficking confidential.
2. Each State Party shall ensure that its domestic legal or administrative system contains measures that provide to victims of trafficking in persons, in appropriate cases:
( a ) Information on relevant court and administrative proceedings;
( b ) Assistance to enable their views and concerns to be presented and considered at appropriate stages of criminal proceedings against offenders, in a manner not prejudicial to the rights of the defence.
3. Each State Party shall consider implementing measures to provide for the physical, psychological and social recovery of victims of trafficking in persons, including, in appropriate cases, in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, other relevant organizations and other elements of civil society, and, in particular, the provision of:
( a ) Appropriate housing;
( b ) Counselling and information, in particular as regards their legal rights, in a language that the victims of trafficking in persons can understand;
( c ) Medical, psychological and material assistance; and
( d ) Employment, educational and training opportunities.
4. Each State Party shall take into account, in applying the provisions of this article, the age, gender and special needs of victims of trafficking in persons, in particular the special needs of children, including appropriate housing, education and care.
5. Each State Party shall endeavour to provide for the physical safety of victims of trafficking in persons while they are within its territory.
6. Each State Party shall ensure that its domestic legal system contains measures that offer victims of trafficking in persons the possibility of obtaining compensation for damage suffered.
5United Nations. (2000, November 15). Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons especially women and children. Retrieved November 18, 2005, from

7. Combating Sex Trafficking
Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000
“nations including the United States must recognize that trafficking is a serious offense…by prescribing appropriate punishment, giving priority to the prosecution of trafficking offenses, and protecting rather than punishing the victims of such offenses. The U.S. must work bilaterally and multilaterally to abolish the trafficking industry by taking steps to promote cooperation among countries linked together by international trafficking routes…must also urge the international community to take strong action in multilateral fora to engage recalcitrant countries in serious and sustained efforts to eliminate trafficking and protect trafficking victims.”6
SEC PREVENTION OF TRAFFICKING .
(a) ECONOMIC ALTERNATIVES TO PREVENT AND DETER TRAFFICKING - The President shall establish and carry out international initiatives to enhance economic opportunity for potential victims of trafficking as a method to deter trafficking . Such initiatives may include--
(1) microcredit lending programs, training in business development, skills training, and job counseling;
(2) programs to promote women's participation in economic decisionmaking;
(3) programs to keep children, especially girls, in elementary and secondary schools, and to educate persons who have been victims of trafficking ;
(4) development of educational curricula regarding the dangers of trafficking ; and
(5) grants to nongovernmental organizations to accelerate and advance the political, economic, social, and educational roles and capacities of women in their countries.
(b) PUBLIC AWARENESS AND INFORMATION- The President, acting through the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State, shall establish and carry out programs to increase public awareness, particularly among potential victims of trafficking , of the dangers of trafficking and the protections that are available for victims of trafficking .
(c) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT- The President shall consult with appropriate nongovernmental organizations with respect to the establishment and conduct of initiatives described in subsections (a) and (b).
SEC PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING .
(a) Assistance for Victims in Other Countries-
(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, in consultation with appropriate nongovernmental organizations, shall establish and carry out programs and initiatives in foreign countries to assist in the safe integration, reintegration, or resettlement, as appropriate, of victims of trafficking . Such programs and initiatives shall be designed to meet the appropriate assistance needs of such persons and their children, as identified by the Task Force.
(2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT- In establishing and conducting programs and initiatives described in paragraph (1), the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development shall take all appropriate steps to enhance cooperative efforts among foreign countries, including countries of origin of victims of trafficking , to assist in the integration, reintegration, or resettlement, as appropriate, of victims of trafficking , including stateless victims .
6United States Congress. (2000). H.R. 3244, Victims of trafficking and violence protection act of Retrieved November 18, 2005, from

8. How does prostitution violate human rights?
Sex workers’ rights organizations: Prostitution as “sex work,” freely chosen, and thus deserving of workers’ rights and protections
Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 23: Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.7
7United Nations. ( ). Universal declaration of human rights. Retrieved November 17, 2005, from

9. Sex Trafficking all Hype?
Statistics cited by CATW and the like argued as unsubstantiated, exaggerated, and manipulated to serve their agenda (total abolition of prostitution)
“while many current studies highlight the tragic stories of individual prostitutes, especially of women and children deceived or coerced into the practice…many workers entered for pragmatic reasons and with a general sense of awareness of the choice they were making.”8
International Labor Organization Study (interviews with thousands of sex workers in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand) “almost all of the women survey said they knew what kind of work they would be doing before they began; half, in fact, responded that they found their job on a friend’s recommendation.”
8Platt, L. (2001). Regulating the global brothel. American Prospect, pp Retrieved November 17, 2005, from

10. Sex Trafficking all Hype?
By continuously portraying migrant prostitutes as “helpless victims,” negating self-determination of Third-World women who actively chose prostitution as a viable economic option.
Patronizing toward prostitutes in general
Racist/neo-colonialist/neo-imperialist attitude toward Third-World prostitutes 9
9Kempadoo, K., & Doezema, J. (1998). Global sex workers: Rights, resistance, and redefinition. New York: Routledge.

11. Prostitution=Sex Work
Abuses/rights violations that befall prostitutes are no different than those experienced by other migrant laborers and laborers in low-status jobs—not “hazards of the trade or…conditions that loose women bring upon themselves but [are] abuses of human rights and labor standards.”10
10Platt, L. (2001). Regulating the global brothel. American Prospect, pp Retrieved November 17, 2005, from

12. Combating Human Rights Violations of Sex Workers
Legalize/decriminalize prostitution as legitimate work and thus protected by fair labor standards and practices
Minimum wage laws
Overtime/vacation pay
Regulations and/or educational programs to prevent HIV/AIDS & STIs
Right to collective bargaining
Legal redress for labor violations11
11Platt, L. (2001). Regulating the global brothel. American Prospect, pp Retrieved November 17, 2005, from International Committee for Prostitutes’ Rights. (1985). World charter for prostitutes’ rights. Retrieved November 18, 2005, from

13. The Two Sides… Pro-abolition of prostitution
Problem: Prostitution in all forms is inherently a violation of human rights.
Solution: Criminalize, focusing on punishing “demand side,” and move toward total abolition.
Pro-decriminalization/legalization of prostitution
Problem: Human rights violation is in not recognizing prostitution as a legitimate work choice and thus not providing equal protections.
Solution: Legalize/decriminalize prostitution and provide fair labor protections.

14. Prostitution and Human Rights
What do you think?

15. Prostitution and Human Rights
Suggested Reading
Leuchtag, A. (2003, Jan/Feb). Human rights, sex trafficking, and prostitution. The Humanist,
Platt, L. (2001). Regulating the global brothel. American Prospect, pp