In UN Conventions, prostitution is often defined as a human rights violation on a level with slavery. A recent research report issued by Anti-Slavery International argues against such identification and calls for a redefinition of prostitution as sex work. Studies revealed that prostitutes, or sex workers, face working conditions that are similar in nature to those experienced by others working in low status jobs in the informal sector. The researcher examines existing human rights and labour standards and suggests that these should be extended to cover sex work in order to provide protection from abuse in many forms.

International legislative and regulatory approaches to sex work tend to focus on abolition or on classifying sex work as slavery and the trafficking of women. Such approaches are rooted in fundamental misunderstandings of the employment nature of sex work. Research shows that many sex workers are vulnerable to abuse because of their marginal social status as poor people, as women, as young persons, as transgendered persons and as men who have sex with men. However, sex work in itself does not necessarily involve coercion or conditions of slavery. The researcher argues that the restriction of the sex industry under criminal law contributes to the marginalisation and potentially to the increasing abuse of sex workers.

The report examines law and practice concerning the sex industry in six case histories sited in Brazil, Ghana, The Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey and England and Wales. It also outlines United Nations and International Labour Organisation instruments that currently apply to sex work, or could be turned to that effect. It also outlines a programme of further research on Sex, Work and Human Rights which is currently being developed by Anti-Slavery International, the Network of Sex Work Projects, the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women and the University of Leiden.

Main findings of the report in hand indicate that:

• Sex workers worldwide face systematic bias and risk abuse, not least of their human and labour rights.
• Many standards agreed by the UN and the ILO could be invoked to prevent abuses against sex workers.
• Sex workers lack organised representation and their human rights go unrecognised in many countries.
• Organised advocacy for those rights is impeded by stigmas and legal penalties attached to the sex industry.
• Women's and human rights groups and trade unions often resist alliances with sex workers who organise.

Some recommendations to policymakers that arise from these findings are that:

• All national legislation that, in effect, places sex workers beyond common legal protection should be axed.
• Where possible, existing ILO standards should be extended to give sex workers access to statutory rights.
• Minimum standards for working conditions in the sex industry should be established under ILO auspices.
• Such standards should cater to special features of the sex industry in respect of rights to personal security.
• Action is needed to support sex worker organisations and their interconnection with other activist groups.

Source(s):
Redefining prostitution as sex work on the international agenda. Anti-Slavery International. J. Bindman (1997)

Funded by: UK Department for International Development (DFID)

id21 Research Highlight: 1998-Apr-14

Further Information:
Anti-Slavery International
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Tel: +44 (0)171 924 9555
Fax: +44 (0)171 738 4110
Contact the contributor: antislavery@gn.apc.org

Anti-Slavery International