Information about demand V-6 concerning sex trafficking of women and girls

Information about demand V-6 concerning sex trafficking of women and girls of the World March of Women in the Year 2000

The World March of Women's demand V-6 concerning sex trafficking of women and girls was unanimously adopted by 140 delegates from 65 countries in October 1998, during the first international preparatory meeting of the March. It is an integral part of the March's platform and we have committed to defending it. We know, however, that some groups disagree with the use of the 1949 convention as a strategy for combating trafficking and sexual exploitation of women. We are offering this document as a complement to the Advocacy Guide on Women's World Demands, produced in June 1999, and as our contribution to the debate, by situating demand V-6 of the March in the current political context.

First, we will present the text of all the March's world demands that relate to sex trafficking and the exploitation of prostitution; and the UN documents referred to in our demand, i.e., an excerpt of the 1949 Convention and the two resolutions of the UN General Assembly concerning trafficking. Next, we will present various concerns regarding the utilization of the 1949 Convention to combat sex trafficking in women and girls, and more generally, the major ideological positions concerning the struggle against women's sexual exploitation.

1. CONTENT OF DEMAND V-6, THE 1949 CONVENTION, AND THE TWO UN RESOLUTIONS

"That mechanisms be established to implement the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, taking into account recent relevant documents such as the two resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly (1996) concerning trafficking in women and girls and violence against migrant women."

In addition, the March platform includes two other demands that directly or indirectly refer to trafficking in women and the exploitation of the prostitution of women:

The World March of Women thus takes a clear stand against sex trafficking of women and girls and the exploitation of the prostitution of others. We realize that prostitution and trafficking does not only affect women. However women are the principal targets of the sex industry, and for this reason we are focusing on the situation of women and girls.

The convention is essentially concerned with the trafficking of women and children for the purposes of prostitution. Prostitution is defined as "incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person" with or without the consent of the prostituted persons.

It calls for the criminalization of all those who profit from the prostitution of another person (procurers or pimps, and customers); prevention by means of educational, health and other social and economic services; and the "rehabilitation" into society of prostitute women. It also calls for the elimination of all forms of legalized prostitution.

Article 1

The Parties to the present Convention agree to punish any person who, to gratify the passions of another:

(1) Procures, entices or leads away, for purposes of prostitution, another person, even with the consent of that person;

(2) Exploits the prostitution of another person, even with the consent of that person.

Article 2

The Parties to the present Convention further agree to punish any person who:

(1) Keeps or manages, or knowingly finances or takes part in the financing of a brothel;

(2) Knowingly lets or rents a building or other place or any part thereof for the purpose of the prostitution of others.

The other articles of the Convention are mostly concerned with the methods of cooperation between the various state authorities (in home and receiving countries)

These resolutions provide a more complete and contemporary picture of the phenomena of sex trafficking and prostitution than that described in the 1949 Convention. They propose various solutions for the violations of women's human rights committed at various levels by individual men, traffickers and state authorities.

Resolution (A/RES/51/66) on Traffic in Women and Girls proposes actions designed to attack the roots of the phenomenon and concrete measures to help trafficked women. It proposes that resources be allocated to NGOs working with trafficked women to ensure the provision of services such as shelter and housing, legal and psychological help, training and access to employment, return and reintegration into their home country, etc. It also recommends training for police and others such as immigration agents to sensitize them to the realities of sex trafficking and ensure better treatment of trafficked women. Finally, the resolution calls for the criminalization of all forms of sex trafficking of women and children; traffickers should be punished, through criminal or civil means. Trafficked women, however, are to be decriminalized.

Resolution A/RES/51/65 on Violence against Women Migrant Workers proposes solutions to the problems of sexual exploitation and violence experienced by women migrant workers (for example, women who travel to foreign countries to work as family helpers) at the hands of their employers or traffickers. It suggests means for protecting the human rights of women migrant workers, including accessible health services, legal aid, and other social services. It recommends that States exchange information on the problems most frequently encountered by women migrant workers, in order to arrive at measures designed to prevent such abuses.

The language of the Convention is outdated, and may lead to confusion. The use of the phrase "dignity and worth of the human person" could be interpreted as meaning that prostitute women have no dignity. But this is not the intended meaning; in fact, the term can also be found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in many other international human rights treaties, including CEDAW. In these documents, the phrase is employed to affirm the equal dignity of all human beings, and their inalienable rights to integrity, security, etc.

The 1949 Convention calls for the punishment, by criminal or civil means, of all those who exploit the prostitution of others (procurers and customers). Prostitute or trafficked women, however, should not be criminalized. This position is a logical extension of the analysis that equates prostitution with sexual exploitation of women. Despite the fact that a legal or criminal approach can be risky for women (resulting in states criminalizing women, rather than the profiteers), we believe that it is preferable to have an international convention that clearly denounces the exploitation of the prostitution of others and to take strong action at the national level to oppose any detrimental utilization (to women's human rights) of such a treaty by national authorities. To deprive ourselves of an international instrument would, we believe, be more harmful to women in the long term.

The 1949 Convention has also been criticized for its lack of a monitoring mechanism. Our demand calls for an application mechanism (an optional protocol, for example) that takes into account more recent documents, such as the two above-mentioned resolutions.

Some groups oppose our demand (see below), stating that the Convention does not reflect contemporary values or the fact that there are many forms of trafficking, not always linked to prostitution or sexual exploitation. The two above-mentioned resolutions are included in our demand in recognition of the importance of ensuring that trafficked women's rights are protected, and providing a more contemporary picture of migrant labour and the human rights abuses committed in that context.

Those opposing the 1949 Convention also emphasize that relatively few countries have ratified it (only 69). The sex industry is highly profitable for governments as well as for traffickers, thus their reluctance to ratify the Convention. If a committee was formed such as those associated with other international treaties, for example, CEDAW, it could work on persuading more countries to sign. The addition of protocols designed to furnish a more contemporary picture of trafficking and protect the rights of trafficked persons could also improve this instrument and garner increased support for it within the international community.

The first world conference on women, held in 1975, during International Women's Year in Mexico City, demanded that governments take energetic measures to eliminate trafficking in women and prostitution. This was followed in 1978, by the Commission on the Status of Women's request to the UN Secretary-General to prepare a report on the application of the 1949 Convention; and in 1980, by the World Conference on the UN Decade for Women, held in Copenhagen, that urged governments to ratify the Convention and submit reports to the Secretary-General on their implementation of the Convention's provisions. These conferences were succeeded by many reports and conferences and the emergence of the controversy in which we are still embroiled, centering on the concept of "forced prostitution." The 1949 Convention has not received any new support for several years.

Meanwhile, in recent years the business of prostituting women and children has become one of the most flourishing global industries, generating over $52 billion per year. Sex trafficking of women and children is occurring on an unprecedented scale. It is estimated that four million people are trafficked each year and that close to one million children are trafficked annually into the sex industry. Moreover, the average age of entry into prostitution is now 14, which means that children as young as eight can be found in this industry. Some estimate that at least nine million women are involved in prostitution around the world; others consider the number closer to 40 million. The phenomenal scale and breadth of the problem poses new challenges to women's and human rights movements.

In this context, the 1949 Convention is important because it is the only international treaty having force of law (for the signing countries) in which prostitution is clearly defined as a violation of fundamental human rights.

Also, the Convention is the only instrument that explicitly states that consent may not be used as a defense by procurers and traffickers when they are charged by women victims of the sex industry. This is an extremely significant point. If the concept of forced trafficking is introduced in international treaties, as seems to be happening in the new convention on transnational crime currently being studied (specifically, the proposed Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children), the door would be open to the notion of consent. Pimps and traffickers would have the perfect defense against criminal charges originating from women victims of the sex industry. It would be very difficult for these women, most of whom are without resources and support, to prove that they had been coerced.

In July 1999, following the NGO consultation organized by the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, the UN Sub-Committee on Human Rights included among its recommendations, "That governments which have not yet done so, ratify the Convention of 1949 on the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others." In February 2000, the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women strongly criticized the 1949 Convention, refraining however, from calling for its rejection. These two points of view clearly illustrate the need to continue the debate. The World March of Women has added its voice to the dialogue.

2. TWO MAJOR CURRENTS

There are no simple answers to the problem of rising sexual exploitation of women and children in the world. The strategies being proposed are generating intense emotion in various quarters, depending on the ideological perspectives of the actors and their specific interests. The women's movement, with all of its cultural, social and political diversity, is caught up in the controversy as well, as shown by the opposition being expressed to demand V-6 of the March.

As many of you already know, demand V-6, with its reference to the 1949 Convention, is the object of a campaign launched by the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women (GAATW). GAATW sent a letter (in March 2000) to many participating groups of the March, asking them to withdraw support for this particular demand.

According to GAATW, the 1949 Convention is inadequate for combating sex trafficking of women and children for several reasons, among them:

Many organizations and individuals are grouped under the name of GAATW. GAATW has members in a number of countries, including Canada, Thailand and the Philippines. In addition, groups including GAATW, the Network of Sex Work Projects and the Foundation Against Trafficking in Women (or STV, Netherlands) are organized under an umbrella group called the International Human Rights Law Group (IHRLG). GAATW and the "Network" have member groups who work directly with prostituted persons.

These groups believe that repression has never achieved anything and that therefore legalization and regulation of the sex industry is the path to pursue. They see nothing wrong with exchanging sex for money, only with coercion, or "forced prostitution." Their priority is to eliminate the stigmatization of those in prostitution by describing them as "sex-workers." This strategy would, they believe, better protect the human rights of prostitutes who are abused by traffickers and state and police authorities. They are firmly opposed to the 1949 Convention and are very active in the development of the above-mentioned trafficking protocol to the new UN convention on transnational organized crime.

Another ideological current is represented by groups who are members of, or allied with, the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW), a pressure group with members in many countries: the United States, Canada, South America, France, Norway, the Philippines, Thailand, Africa, Australia, India and Bangladesh. Both individuals and groups (many of whom work directly with trafficked women) are members.

CATW seeks to improve the 1949 Convention on trafficking and the exploitation of the prostitution of others by adding protocols and a committee to monitor states and receive complaints. These groups believe that the Convention is the only international treaty that recognizes prostitution as an abuse of women's human rights, and that as such, constitutes an important gain for women. They view prostitution as sexual exploitation of women, regardless of whether women consent to prostitution. Adherents to this view believe that regulation of the sex industry will not solve the problem of women's stigmatization, and that on the contrary, the industry will be strengthened and women more controlled than ever. Instead they favour campaigning against the criminalization of prostitute women and for a complete array of specialized and specifically adapted services. For them, prostitution must not be taken out of its context of social injustice, nor reduced to a simple economic exchange. These groups also advocate the increased criminalization of pimps and customers.

Recently CATW joined with other women's groups such as NOW and Equality Now (US) and the European Women's Lobby to found a coalition called the International Human Rights Network. The objective of this coalition is to participate in developing the protocol on prevention of trafficking to the new UN convention on transnational organized crime.

CONCLUSION

Despite the obvious divergences in opinion regarding the best strategy to adopt to ensure the respect of trafficked persons' fundamental rights, we believe there is a consensus with respect to certain measures that states should implement in the short term to improve conditions for prostitutes and victims of trafficking.

The World March of Women, by calling for the application of the 1949 Convention, is part of a current that is extremely critical of all those who reap profit from women's poverty and vulnerability. We realize that not all participating groups of the March have firm positions that equate prostitution with sexual exploitation of women. More analysis and discussion is needed within the women's movement as a whole. Many groups are already involved in this issue. Certainly it will continue to concern us for many years to come.

One thing is clear: whatever our position on prostitution, we cannot ignore the fact that this debate is taking place while sex tourism and trafficking of women and girls is expanding into one of the biggest businesses in the world—another face of globalization. The impoverishment of peoples, women in particular, together with the insinuation of commercial interests into all spheres of human activity are leading to systems of exploitation that we must not underestimate. Moreover, the continued existence of patriarchal attitudes concerning the place and rights of women results in fundamentally unequal personal relations between women and men, including in the area of sexuality. Feminists must take this context into account in our discussions on prostitution and sexual trafficking, regardless of the strategies that we decide to adopt to ensure that all women enjoy the full expression of our fundamental rights.

Finally, the Coordinating Committee of the World March of Women in the Year 2000 considers that the social debate concerning this complex question is healthy and should be taking place at all levels, with a view to finding appropriate long-term solutions that will put an end to the sexual exploitation of women.

Coordinating Committee of the World March of Women