"The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe published a motion for a resolution on various aspects of prostitution. In the paper prostitution is standardized and presented as the provision of sexual services“ The Ordo Iuris Institute alerts.
In fresh days, the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, in the framework of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, published a motion for a resolution on various aspects of "sexual work". The paper is written by Fourat Ben Chikha, a Belgian Tunisian-origin politician, a Flemish Green organization (Green Party) senator, and a associate of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, termed "a arrogant queer Muslim". The resolution sets out a number of comments and recommendations on the situation and rights of "sexual service providers".
The motion for a resolution begins by stating that sex workers are part of society and have the right to security, respect for dignity and protection from discrimination. It besides points out that they face stigmatisation and marginalisation, are peculiarly susceptible to force and exploitation and experience a advanced level of discrimination in access to education, employment, health, housing, justice and protection from violence. The authors believe that the origin of this discrimination is many different factors, including “sexual orientation”, “gender identity” and “gender expression”.
The paper further states that although trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation, including forced prostitution, is 1 of the main types of trafficking in human beings (especially as regards women and girls), "sexual work" should not be identified with this trafficking in human beings. In this context, the authors refer, inter alia, to the 1983 (2014) Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly "Prostitution, trafficking in human beings and modern slavery in Europe", stressing that "in all cases, authorities should refrain from treating prostitution rules as a substitute for comprehensive measures to combat trafficking in human beings, based on a solid legal and political framework and effectively implemented". Further, the authors of the paper mention to the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in case M.A. and others v France (2024) according to which the national authorities "must review their rules on sexual services on a permanent basis, especially erstwhile they are based on a ban on buying sexual activities so as to be able to change them and adapt them to the evolution of global standards".
Decriminalizing prostitution?
The authors then mention the opinion of "many global organisations and experts", who urge "full decriminalisation of sexual work as the best way to defend the wellness and human rights of sex service providers". In this context, authoritative papers and statements issued by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, the planet wellness Organisation, the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls and Amnesty global are recalled. "The positions and arguments of specified a wide scope of actors should be carefully taken into account by legislators and policy makers erstwhile regulating sexual work", we can read in the motion for a resolution.
The authors of the paper note a improvement of the law in Belgium, where prostitution was removed from the penal code there and social safety was introduced for prostitution professionals (they can "work" on the basis of a contract of employment). "The Assembly considers that this improvement is an example that could be followed by another associate States (...)" stressed the draft resolution's authors, noting that specified measures could aid to destruct the legal grey zones within which prostitution-related criminal activities can develop.
Proposals for recommendations of the Assembly on prostitution
Further to the motion for a resolution, it is recommended that the Council of Europe associate States take a number of different measures on prostitution, including strengthening cooperation with civilian society organisations representing "sexual service providers" and organisations providing support to "sexual service providers" and victims of trafficking. Furthermore, in the opinion of the authors, the organisations afraid should participate in consultations and in "the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies affecting sexual work and policies against trafficking in human beings". In addition, there is besides a request to supply "sexual service providers" with access to the full scope of "sexual and reproductive wellness services", including "safe abortion care". The motion for a resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly then recommends that associate States of the Council of Europe run "to combat stigma and prejudice against sex service providers". Among the another recommendations, it is worth noting the call for appropriate action to combat forced sex work and the proposal to include rules on "sex services" in general labour law, as well as to guarantee access to social safety related to pensions, unemployment, wellness insurance and household benefits. It besides points out the request to guarantee that persons active in prostitution can join or join unions.
Prostitution hits women's dignity
When examining the motion for a resolution, it is worth noting any essential points. First of all, the paper is based on the premise that "the provision of sexual services", understood as "voluntary prostitution" from forced prostitution, as an example of which is the fact that "sexual work should not be combined with trafficking in human beings". In fact, however, it is rather the opposite, as many studies and technological publications clearly indicate that exploitation and sexual exploitation are 1 of the basic forms of modern slavery, no uncertainty trafficking in human beings. This besides applies increasingly to minors who are forced to participate in this shameful course. "The most common form of human trafficking – as far as Poland is afraid – is the sexual exploitation of women" – we can read in the authoritative 2015 message of the Police. "Detected victims of trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation and victims of trafficking in human beings for forced labour accounted for about 82% of all victims of trafficking in human beings", a July publication said.
Secondly, the draft resolution runs counter to a number of different acts of global law aimed at preventing and combating prostitution. These include, for example, the Palermo Protocol of 2000, which condemns prostitution as a form of trafficking in human beings (Article 3) or the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings of 2005, where the word "trafficking in human beings" includes "use of prostitution" and "other forms of sexual exploitation" (Article 4).
The UN and the European Parliament condemn prostitution
It is worth the position of the UN peculiar Rapporteur on force against Women, who in the authoritative study called for the global designation and fight against prostitution as a systemic violence, while recommending the prosecution of persons utilizing this practice and of suteners. It is besides crucial that the authoritative position of the European Parliament, which, in a resolution adopted in 2014, powerfully condemned prostitution, designates it as an act which, by its nature, constitutes a form of force and a violation of human dignity. What is peculiarly crucial is that the resolution calls on the associate States to take action both to penalise the economical exploitation of prostitution and to punish those utilizing specified "services".
It is worth noting that the authors of the paper explicitly call on associate States to give "sexual service providers" the right to abortion on demand. The killing of an unborn kid is presented here as a specified human rights healthcare treatment.
When examining the text of the document, it is worth noting that its main thesis is the request to legalise prostitution, presented as a "secure of sexual services" and thus the same work as any other. An example of this approach is the advice that people working in the "sexual services" sector should be able to make and join existing trade unions or another labour organisations. Meanwhile, prostitution is simply a phenomenon that requires systemic countermeasures, as it brings a female to the function of goods or objects. It is besides worth remembering that women and girls active in prostitution are frequently forced to do so in practice due to hard material circumstances and susceptible to exploitation, as well as abuses from those who manage the full operation. global organisations should so make efforts to combat this phenomenon and to supply the essential assistance to those who are victims of it, and to guarantee that people who exploit their hard circumstances are held accountable.
The motion for a resolution will be put to the vote on Thursday 3 October.
Patrick Ignaszczak – Analyst of Ordo Iuris global Law Center
