18 December, International Migrants Day, comes towards the end of what has been a particularly difficult year for migrants’ rights. 2016 broke a number of devastating records, and has seen the growth of some worrying trends. There are more people on the move now than ever before. The number of refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people hit a record high of over 65 million people, or one in every 113 people on Earth. Across the globe, anti-migrant, xenophobic rhetoric has been espoused by a growing right wing political establishment, finding new strength in Europe and in Trump’s election in the US. 2016 was the deadliest year yet in terms of number of deaths in the Mediterranean, while new EU agreements with Turkey and Afghanistan see the EU renege on commitments to asylum seekers and refugees, and aim to deter and return migrants at risk. The international rights protection framework appears to be weakening.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit a contribution to your ‘Consultation seeking views on UN Women approach to sex work, the sex trade and prostitution’.
This submission is made by the International Secretariat of the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) and the member organisations listed as signatories at the end of this document.
The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) is an Alliance of more than 80 non-governmental organisations from Africa, Asia, Europe, LAC and North America. The GAATW International Secretariat is based in Bangkok, Thailand and co-ordinates the activities of the Alliance, collects and disseminates information, and advocates on behalf of the Alliance at regional and international levels. Member Organisations include migrant rights organisations; anti-trafficking organisations; self-organised groups of migrant workers, domestic workers, survivors of trafficking and sex workers; human rights and women's rights organisations; and direct service providers.
Representations of human trafficking, forced labour and 'modern slavery' are pervasive within media, policymaking, and humanitarian interventions and campaigns. This issue of the Anti-Trafficking Review explores the ways in which some representations erase the complexity in the life trajectories of people who have experienced trafficking, as well as those who are migrants, women, sex workers and others labelled as victims or 'at-risk' of trafficking.
Launch of Issue 6 of the Anti-Trafficking Review 'Prosecuting Human Trafficking', guest edited by Anne T. Gallagher
Prosecuting human trafficking is widely viewed as one of the main pillars of an effective national response to trafficking. But worldwide, the number of prosecutions for trafficking and related exploitation remains stubbornly low, especially when compared to the generally accepted size of the problem. Very few traffickers are ever brought to justice and the criminal justice system rarely operates to benefit those who have been trafficked.
The International Secretariat of the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women welcomes Amnesty International’s ‘Policy on State Obligations to Respect, Protect and Fulfil the Human Rights of Sex Workers’, developed after two years of in-depth research and consultations with sex workers and various other stakeholders.
GAATW was launched over twenty years ago in order to challenge the dominant discourse on trafficking as occurring exclusively in the sex industry and of the women in the sex industry as pitiful victims of exploitation. As feminists, we have stood in solidarity with women in both the formal and informal economy, including the sex industry, and have maintained that even in the most difficult situations, women demonstrate extraordinary power, agency and resilience. Sex workers’ struggle for rights is the same struggle as that of women, migrants and workers around the world.
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