The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) is an Alliance of more than 100 non-governmental organisations from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean and North America. GAATW views human trafficking within the context of labour migration.
This EU Anti-Trafficking Day, GAATW is concluding its International Members Congress and Conference (IMCC) in Bangkok, Thailand which brings together member organisations and allies from labour, sex work, trafficking survivors, migrant and women’s rights groups from every region of the world. We are also celebrating our 30th anniversary as an international alliance, reflecting on our history and looking forward to the future. GAATW unites organisations spanning direct support, organising, knowledge building, and influencing social change touching anti-trafficking, migrant rights, and labour rights.
First, we join many in the anti-trafficking world to express our deep sadness at the news this week of the death of our dear friend and colleague, Dr Helga Konrad, who led pioneering, consistently challenging and fearless work on human trafficking spanning more than 25 years. Helga whose work included serving as the OSCE’s first Special Representative on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings from 2004-06, was a long-time ally of our Alliance and will be greatly missed.
As a joint effort among organisations supporting Sex Workers rights, GAATW submitted a statement for the 56th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. As part of a delegation of representatives of Sex Workers groups and organisations, Sabra Boyd from Sex Workers and Survivors United, a member organisation of our US member organisation Freedom Network USA, spoke on behalf of GAATW. The attendance of this delegation to the hearing at the UNHRC comes as a result, and as a clear sign of rejection, of the last report on prostitution launched by the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls last month.
In her oral statement, Sabra emphasised "a human rights approach to combating trafficking centers on protecting people’s agency and autonomy to work – rather than increased policing and surveillance". Sabra referred to the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls (SR VAWG)'s report on how it "dangerously conflates the needs of children and adults. To address these two populations simultaneously is ineffective and contrary to international human rights law."
The group was mandated by the Human Rights Council and consists of five experts; it aims to end discrimination against women in law and in practice in all fields from the perspective of countries’ obligations “to respect, protect and fulfil women’s human rights,” it says.
In advocating for the full decriminalization of adult voluntary sex work based on international standards for strengthening women’s physical autonomy and sexual and reproductive health, this guidance document is an important step toward a human rights-based approach to sex work for all UN bodies to follow.
The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) is an Alliance of non-governmental organisations from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Member organisations work to promote the rights of migrants and survivors of trafficking. The GAATW International Secretariat is based in Bangkok, Thailand and coordinates the activities of the Alliance, initiates research, and advocates on behalf of the Alliance.
Over the past three years, GAATW has interviewed a total of 970 migrants and survivors of trafficking (953 women and 17 men) in 18 countries across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. This submission is based on the findings of these conversations, as well as earlier research conducted in 2018 with self-organised groups of migrant women workers in India, Thailand, Mexico, Canada, Spain, South Africa and New Zealand.
Introduction
This submission will focus on questions 2 and 3 in the call for input. First, it will examine and analyse the ways in which the ability of migrants to self-organise facilitates greater inclusion and therefore greater freedom to contribute to society. Second, it examines how the failure of states and international organisations to implement feminist migration policies significantly hinders migrants’ contributions and increases their vulnerability to human rights violations.
In this submission, when we discuss the contributions of migrants and the challenges they face, we seek to avoid any suggestion that migrants are required to contribute either economically, socially, or culturally to be deserving of rights protection. We wish to avoid the risk that by focusing on the “contributions” of migrants, a dichotomy is inadvertently drawn between “good” migrants, who contribute to society, and “bad” migrants who do not. This risk is particularly acute for women migrants. The strict gender roles that have been ascribed to women globally perpetuate harmful stereotypes about what a woman’s contribution in life should be, which are usually linked to childrearing, sexual chastity, and caregiving. Women migrants who deviate from these stereotypes, risk being seen as not contributing in the right way and therefore as “bad” migrants.
On 23 of April, during its last plenary meeting of this mandate, the EU parliament adopted the final text of the recast of the EU anti-trafficking Directive1. We, the undersigned non-governmental human rights organisations, welcome some progress that has been made in the revised Directive. It is positive that sanctions for legal persons have been strengthened for those liable for misconduct; that the non-punishment clause now applies to all unlawful activities and that the right to international protection is strongly recognised in the text.
Overall, however the final legislative text demonstrates a lack of commitment of the European institutions to advance the rights of trafficked persons.
We have advocated for binding measures for EU Member States to ensure real access to rights and justice for victims of trafficking, both on paper and in practice, including their access to safe reporting, non-punishment, compensation and unconditional access to adequate support and protection, as well as residence. However, most of the provisions in the Directive related to these rights have not been meaningfully or effectively strengthened. Moreover, the use of services of trafficked persons is now criminalised, while there is no evidence that this will be effective or strengthen victims’ rights. In fact, it is likely to cause human rights violations instead.
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