Excluded but Fighting

Where Are the Voices of Sex Workers and Their Allies in EU Anti-Trafficking Policymaking

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13025822
AutoresIrena Ferčíková Konečná (0009-0008-0132-0862, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen13
Número3
Páginas148-148
Fecha de publicación2024-03-05
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Sciences (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760
EditorialMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/socsci13030148
OpenAlexW4392459934
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas14

The ‘end demand’ approach to prostitution has been popping up in Europe through the anti-trafficking debate and receives increasing attention on the international agenda. It is well recognized that improving workers’ rights, increasing unionization and collective bargaining coverage are effective strategies for tackling trafficking. However, with regard to sexual exploitation, focus is not on these strategies but instead on the abolition of the entire sex industry with the help of criminal justice systems. In first decade after the Palermo Protocol (2000), international organizations (IGOs) promoted a human rights-based approach to tackling trafficking, aiming to balance the criminal justice focus of the protocol. This work guided states on how to maintain and protect human rights while combating human trafficking. However, the explosive issue of sex work/prostitution was minimized, with IGOs avoiding the topic due to the fragile consensus about the definition of human trafficking and state obligations. Meanwhile, sex workers’ collectives and unions globally and throughout Europe developed their own strategies on how to address widespread criminalization, discrimination, violence and exploitation, with no or very limited funding and resources—and without recognition of their work, experience and expertise. This article presents how the European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance (ESWA) and other sex workers’ rights civil society organizations have sought to challenge the harmful impacts of the ‘end demand’ discourse and the criminalization of sex work in the name of anti-trafficking in Europe

Criminology · Human trafficking · Political economy · Political science · Sex trafficking · Sociology · Gender Studies · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Psychology · Sex work and related issues