Stop Violence Against Women
A project of The Advocates for Human Rights
Domestic Violence
General Information Best Practices Law and Policy Ongoing Developments
Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking Overview Training and Advocacy Ongoing Developments Sex Trafficking and Safe Harbor Resource Pack
Sexual Harassment
General Information Training and Advocacy Law and Policy Ongoing Developments
Sexual Assault
General Information Advocacy and Training Law and Policy Ongoing Developments
Other Forms of Violence Against Women
Crimes Committed in the Name of "Honor" Dowry-Related Violence Female Environmental Refugees Female Genital Mutilation Femicide Forced and Early Marriage Forced/Coerced Sterilization Gender-Based Asylum Harmful Practices Indigenous Women Maltreatment of Widows Son Preference Violence Against LGBT Women Violence Against the Girl Child Violence Against Women and HIV/AIDS Women and Armed Conflict Violence Against Women with Disabilities
Russian Site
  1. Home
  2. What's New

Handbook on Links Between Prostitution and Traffic

Monday, November 20, 2006
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) and the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) collaborated to create one document to combine their research, ideas and arguments supporting efforts to end prostitution and trafficking.  The initiative resulted in a handbook, The Links between Prostitution and Sex Trafficking: A Briefing Handbook, created as a resource for NGOs or governments working on finding the links between trafficking and prostitution.  The authors used countries considering measures to legalize or regulate prostitution as their target group for study.  These include: Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Russia, Moldova, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The handbook is intended as a resource for individuals working to combat trafficking and quell the growth of the sex industry, both locally and globally. It addresses misconceptions about prostitution and argues that the demand for sex workers (legal and illegal) is driving trafficking of women and children.  The handbook also analyzes language used to describe prostitution and trafficking in an attempt to raise awareness and delegitamize the idea that women and children enter the sex industry by choice.  Instead, the authors recognize a host of factors lending to women's lack of choice in terms of sex work, including poverty, racism, cultural discrimination and overt gender inequality. 

The authors make the final call to recognize trafficking and prostitution as violence against women.  They articulate the complexities of women and children's invovlement in prostitution and trafficking, and critique traditional efforts to assist women working in the sex industry.

Compiled from The Links between Prostitution and Sex Trafficking: A Briefing Handbook, by Monica O'Connor and Grainne Healy, for the Joint Project Promoting Preventative Measures to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings for Sexual Exploitation: A Swedish and United States Governmental and Non-Governmental Organisation Partnership, 2006. (PDF, 40 pages).

For more information

For more information, see the Trafficking in Women section of this website.

lg
md
sm