Launch of new resource “Trafficking 101”

As part of its programme ’Rights not Rescue: Sex Work, Migration, Exploitation and Trafficking’, Intl. Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE) is launching a new resource ’Trafficking 101: a community resource for sex workers’ rights activists’.

Trafficking in human beings has become a priority issue of international and national organisations, governments as well as corporations, businesses and philanthropists over the last decades. The phenomenon of trafficking in human beings – as defined and conceptualised in international and national laws - is rooted in global inequalities, neoliberal economies and corporate interests, inadequate protection of workers’ rights and the rapid growth of global migration. Anti-trafficking responses therefore should apply a holistic approach to address the complexity of these root causes of trafficking. In reality, however, most anti-trafficking measures apply a punitive, criminal justice oriented approach and primarily serve to fight illegal migration. As a result of increasing influence of abolitionist feminists in the trafficking policy arena, the fight against prostitution has been also included into the broader framework of anti-trafficking policies in many European countries. Abolitionist activists and NGOs strive to extend the definition of trafficking in human beings to include all cases of sex work, thus conflating it with trafficking.

The purpose of this community resource is to increase the understanding of sex workers’ rights organisations on human trafficking policies and priorities in Europe and Central Asia. The document has the ambition to be as brief as possible and thus picks only some aspects of the trafficking in human beings phenomenon. The text explains the definitions and terms used in international human trafficking policies and presents reasons why the definitions are still challenging even after nearly 20 years of their introduction. Furthermore, the resource summarises what can indicate human trafficking according to international standards. As human trafficking is broadly considered as a gross violation of human rights, the document also gives an overview of the rights that all victims of trafficking should enjoy, accompanied by short descriptions of challenges in their realisation.

To download the full report click here.

Source http://www.sexworkeurope.org

Date of publication Fri, 9 August 2019