UN Panel on Trafficking Ignores the Role of Prostitution

Image credit: UN Photo/Amanda Voisard 

Stopping human trafficking should be of top priority at the UN but refusing to condemn prostitution and pornography as key drivers of trafficking renders most UN talks on trafficking just that - talks. 

On Monday, the UN held a hearing on trafficking in persons and, were it not for the NGOs in the room, “prostitution” would have never come up despite it being the second most pervasive form of trafficking after forced labor. 

Many of the experts asked for “intersectional, rights-based and trauma-informed approaches,” which are rather vague concepts that sound more like fancy talk than the tangible policy proposals needed to disrupt rings of criminals who run extensive networks that enslave women around the world.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking went a step further with the vague jargon by saying that youth “are at the forefront of action to combat human trafficking. ” What does that even mean? 

Most UN “experts” are so steeped in ideology that they won’t even use the word “prostitution.” 

Thankfully, some civil society groups spoke up. One NGO said that “A woman’s body is not a product and not a workplace” and that “countries that attempt to regulate prostitution end up encouraging demand for sexual exploitation. “

Here is an excerpt from the C-Fam statement at the meeting:

“C-Fam would like to underline that there is no other way to end sexual slavery other than to reduce and eventually eliminate sex buying. Sex trafficking is not just a heinous crime that exists in a vacuum. It is part of a toxic ecosystem of moral corruption and depravity that is perpetuated by laws and policies that close a blind eye to the victims of sex buying. 

We applaud the current Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, Reem  Al-Salem, for highlighting the interlinkages and entrenchment of pornography-prostitution trafficking. Indeed, the evidence is incontrovertible, laws and policies that in any way legitimize or tolerate prostitution and pornography are a danger to societies, and women and children especially. This is why it is shocking when UN agencies promote legal prostitution, undermine the family, and depict sexuality as a mere recreational activity, including for children. This betrays their basic mandate to uphold human dignity. How far have they strayed from their mandate!” You can watch the full statement here. 

Despite its unique position to facilitate talks among member states on how to stop trafficking, the UN cannot be part of the solution if it continues to prioritize empty “politically correct” talk over real solutions.