Obligation of the State against trafficking (2024)

According to the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, States have an obligation under international human rights to develop and implement prevention and protection measures enabling the proper investigation, prosecution and punishment of all acts of violence against women and girls, including the prostitution of women. Furthermore, article 2 (g) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discriminaiton against Women obliges States to repeal all criminal laws that discriminate against women, including laws that criminalize women in prostitution.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has clarified the meaning and application of the Convention in addressing prostitution, sexual exploitation and sex trafficking as a trifecta of harmful cultural practices, violence, sexual violence, and discrimination against women and girls. In article 5 (12) of its general recommendation No. 19 (1992), the Committee also recognized that discrimination against women and girls stems from traditional attitudes that contribute to the propagation of pornography and the depiction and other commercial exploitation of women as sexual objects, which in turn contributes to gender-based violence against women.

Under article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discriminaiton against Women, States parties must take all appropriate measures to alter the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.

According to the Convention, States parties must also protect victims and prevent harm by developing educational, health, social, economic and other related services for victims. In its general recommendation No. 38 (2020), the Committee develops these obligations by recommending appropriate legislation and guaranteeing access to justice for victims, specifically highlighting migrant women and children. The Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others obliges States to ensure that the most marginalized women and girls are protected from exploitation schemes in which the exercise of real consent is impossible.

In addition, Member States having established regulated prostitution systems could be regarded as being in violation of article 1 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

From:
Prostitution and violence against women and girls
Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls,
its causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem* (Human Rights Council – United Nations)

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