ENDEAVOUR FORUM NEWSLETTER No. 120, NOVEMBER 2005

 

 

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THE LINK BETWEEN PROSTITUTION AND SEX TRAFFING

 

Politicians of all political parties are opposed to the international sex trade, i.e. the trafficking of women and children for prostitution; indeed trafficking in persons is a criminal offence in Australia under the sex slavery laws enacted by the Commonwealth in 1999.   However many politicians and the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission take a benevolent view about domestic prostitution, failing to realise (or acknowledge) that the legalisation of brothels within Australia fuels international sex trafficking. 

Article 6 of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) says: "States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women". Unfortunately, in clear breach of this Treaty which Australia has signed and ratified, several Australian states have legalised brothels, an example of how permissive State governments and agencies such as the Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission only abide by UN Conventions when it suits them. 

Where brothels are legalised or tolerated, there is greater demand for foreign trafficked victims and an increase in the number of women and children trafficked into commercial sex slavery.  Domestic prostitution fuels international sex trafficking - demand develops for girls of a particular ethnic origin: it may be Thai girls, or the latest "flavour of the month" may be for women from Eastern Europe or Russia. 

Brothels were legalised in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and the ACT on the assumption that legal brothels would eliminate illegal prostitution  and would protect prostitutes - and their clients - from health risks.  Neither of these assumptions is correct as is evident from the practical experience in those states.  Illegal brothels have flourished along with the legal ones, as have strip clubs, escort agencies and street prostitution. Many prostitutes become users of or addicted to drugs to dull their physical and mental pain. Here is a paragraph from the paper by Linda Watson , former prostitute and madam, as presented at the Sexual Integrity Forum organised by the Fatherhood Foundation in Canberra in August 2005:  

"The girls start out as fresh, pretty young things, excited about all the money they are making. Then perhaps three or six months later, the pain sets in. It is physical pain - in the back, the legs, the head, all over - and mental pain. The mental pain is the worst. It is what makes girls turn to drugs - alcohol and cannabis at first, then harder drugs. When I was a madam I would get together with other madams and we'd talk about how many of our girls had a drug habit. In those days, about 85% had a habit. These days I'm told it is worse. I myself had a problem with alcohol and pethidine. You won't find madams admitting this in public. They all pretend their establishments are squeaky clean, but I know what really goes on..." 

All prostitution is brutal, dangerous and damaging to women -  60-70% of women in prostitution are raped, 70-95% are physically assaulted. 68% experience post traumatic stress disorder.  Prostitution fuels public health problems including HIV/AIDS,  Hepatitis B, Cervical Cancer and Fertility Complications. Profits from the sex trade fuel other criminal activities. 

A June 20-21 conference, organized by the  Vatican's Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, presented shocking statistics and stories of the victims who are bought, sold and trafficked across the globe.  An estimated 500,000 women from Eastern Europe are enslaved and forced to prostitute themselves on the streets of Western Europe alone. The data are even more staggering from Asia, India, Africa and the Americas. Catholic organizations are already active in the field of rescuing the victims. Officials said that human trafficking is the third biggest crime in the world, rivaling the illicit sale of drugs and arms. Sister Eugenia Bonetti, of the Italian Union of Major Superiors, an expert in the problem of human trafficking, offered practical guidelines for fighting human trafficking and emphasized how a new "focus should be on the demand for the services too." She said she would not have to be trying to raise the 80,000 euros ($96,000) to free each young woman enslaved if society were better informed of the problems and imbued with stronger concepts of morality. (Sweden is one country which prosecutes the clients of prostitutes rather than the prostitutes themselves). Men who pay for sex fuel the trade. 

The US Government adopted a strong position against legalised prostitution in a December 2002 National Security Presidential Directive based on evidence that prostitution is inherently harmful and dehumanising and fuels trafficking in persons, a form of modern-day slavery.  

On the 23rd June 2005, The 94th UN General Assembly passed the Victim Trafficking law creating the offenses of involuntary servitude, sexual servitude of a minor, and trafficking of persons for forced labor and services. 

Federal MP Jenni George, (ALP) spoke eloquently at the Sexual Integrity Forum on the exploitation of women trafficked in the sex trade. It is now up to her to persuade her State colleagues, the Labor Premiers who have legalised brothels, to close down legal and illegal brothels. This is where the demand for sex trafficking originates. It is an outrage that local Councils cannot reject brothel applications. In Queensland according to Cr. John Grant, Deputy Mayor, Logan City, Councillors would be acting unlawfully if they refused compliant brothel applications. Thus far Councillors in Logan have avoided prosecution by "failing to approve" rather than "refuse".  Over to you, Jenni!

 

 

 

 

 

Member Organisation, World Council for Life and Family

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