Kiri

1

Open letter from 13 umbrella organisations representing more than 2,000 feminist, survivor-led and grassroots NGOs

to Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

We, the undersigned, representing 2,000 feminist, grassroots and survivor-led NGOs, call on the

Members of the PACE to reject and vote against the report “Protecting the human rights and

improving the lives of sex workers and victims of sexual exploitation”.

Our organisations have decades of grassroots experience in addressing issues related to

violence against women, human rights, migrant rights, prostitution and trafficking for sexual

exploitation among others. Our expertise allows us to conclude that prostitution is a violence

targeting the most vulnerable and that its legalisation (or “full decriminalisation” as quoted in the

report) poses a real threat to the lives of women in prostitution and women’s rights globally.

Our 13 umbrella organisations collectively advocate for the Equality Model on prostitution, one

that decriminalises all persons in prostitution, provides exit pathways and alternatives to them

and penalise the perpetrators: pimps and buyers of sexual acts. This model - existing among

others in Sweden and France - has proven to be efficient in protecting persons in prostitution

while fighting trafficking for sexual exploitation and was recently praised by the European Court

of Human Rights.

We wish to express our extreme concerns on the report named “Protecting the human rights and

improving the lives of sex workers and victims of sexual exploitation” which is based on a

biased, opaque consultation process with organisations promoting an approach aimed at

legalising all aspects of the prostitution system including pimping and the purchase of sexual

acts. The procedure excluded the voices of survivors of prostitution and of grassroots and

feminist organisations.

We consider that the report which will be voted on September 12th is harmful for persons in

prostitution and women’s rights for several reasons:

 The report promotes the “Belgian model” which recently went further into the

decriminalisation of pimping in its criminal code leading to disastrous consequences for

persons in prostitution, and which was denounced by grassroots NGOs on the ground

URGENT: VOTE TO REJECT THE “SEX WORK” REPORT

2

repeatedly1. The depenalisation of pimping allows pimps to hide behind legal facades to

exploit prostituted persons in total impunity. Europol addresses that where prostitution is

legal, trafficking for sexual exploitation increases2. In Germany, which legalised prostitution in

2002, 82% of persons registered in prostitution are foreigners3. Former commissioner

Manfred Paulus in charge of fighting trafficking in human beings in Ulm, underlines that

”Thanks to liberal, favourable policies towards traffickers, the red-lights districts in

Germany are and have been under the control of criminal networks for years.

These include albanic clans, the russian mafia (...) and the Hells Angels4”.

 The report fails to acknowledge that male demand for the purchase of sexual acts is the

rootcause of prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation. Where prostitution has been

legalised/”fully decriminalised”, the male demand for the purchase of sexual acts has

exploded. Germany, the Netherlands and Spain have become hotspots for sex tourism and

human trafficking. Germany is now referred to as “The Brothel of Europe”5, with 1 million men

going to a brothel every day6. In Spain, it has become normalised for young people to go to a

brothel as a birthday celebration7, and 39%8 of men acknowledge having paid for sexual acts

at least once. In the Netherlands, it is now legal for a driving instructor to request a sexual act

as a means of payment from his students9.

 The use of the terminology “sex work” goes against UN and European agreed language

which uses the neutral term “prostitution”. The International human rights law (UN 1949

Convention10) recognises prostitution as a “violation of the dignity of the human person”. It is

thus extremely difficult to understand how a violation of human dignity could be recognised

as work by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

 The report does not uphold the highest standards of protection of International and

European human rights on prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation:

 The UN 1949 Convention, a universal binding treaty, addresses that prostitution

is incompatible with human dignity. It calls on Members in its Article 1 & 2 to

penalise pimping in all of its forms including brothel owning, and profiting from

the prostitution of others even with the consent of that person11.

 The UN Palermo Protocol12 calls on States to discourage the demand that

fosters all forms of exploitation.

____

1. Prostitution : les associations féministes expriment leur profonde inquiétude quant à l’approche de la Belgique

2. Regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights

3. https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2024/07/PD24_271_228.html

4. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9A48cAUomNTZ1B0VGJRcERVbkU/edit?resourcekey=0-Vq9KWJwDo0AfEW348LZnoA

5. Mega-brothels: Has Germany become 'bordello of Europe'? BBC, 2014

6. Germany Has Become the Cut-Rate Prostitution Capital of the World | TIME.com

7. Crece el consumo de prostitución entre los más jóvenes, El Diario Solidario, 2019

8. https://www.cis.es/cis/export/sites/default/-Archivos/Marginales/2780_2799/2780/Cru278000EDAD_H.html

9. Dutch driving instructors can trade lessons for sex | CNN

10. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others

11. Art1 & 2. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others

12. Art. 9 United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children

3

 The CEDAW13 in its Article 6 calls on States to suppress the exploitation of

prostitution of women.

 The European Parliament recognises that prostitution is a “violation of human

dignity” and “an obstacle to equality between women & men, contrary to the

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU14”. In 2023, it reaffirmed that prostitution

was a violence and called on Member States to depenalise persons in

prostitution, provide exit pathways to them, penalise the purchase of sexual acts

and pimps in line with the Equality Model15.

 The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women addresses that the

“legalization of prostitution increases the demand, fosters violence against women

and girls and weakens the tools required for law enforcement to monitor, target

and prosecute perpetrators, including traffickers and other third-party exploiters.”

The rapporteur calls on Member States to adopt the five pillars of the Equality

model.

 The report makes unsubstantiated claims about so-called negative effects of the Equality

Model which the European Court of Human Rights itself refutes in the judgment M.A vs

France from July 202416. The Court addresses that there is no evidence that the

criminalisation of the purchase of sexual acts has produced negative effects towards

persons in prostitution (§155), that these effects might as well be attributed to the

prostitution system itself. It further highlights that the Equality Model law is a coherent global

approach which:

 reversed the balance of power between persons in prostitution and buyers of

sexual acts in favour of prostituted persons (§163);

 protects persons in prostitution, safeguards human dignity, fights trafficking

(§141).

It therefore upholds its conventionality.

In view of these elements, we, 13 umbrella organisations representing more than 2,000

grassroots NGOs, survivor-led organisations and feminist organisations worldwide, reaffirm that

a Europe where the most vulnerable women and girls are not commodified, bought and sold in

the sexist, racist and class-based prostitution system is possible.

We urge you to reject and vote against the harmful report on “Protecting the human rights and improving the lives of sex workers and victims of sexual exploitation”.

____

13. Art. 6 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 18 December 1979

14. European Parliament resolution of 26 February 2014 on sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality

15. Regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights

16. CEDH, Affaire M.A et autres contre France, 25/07/2024

4

SIGNATORIES:

Brussels Call

Bundesverband Nordisches Modell (BVNM)

Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)

Coalition for the Abolition of Prostitution (CAP International)

Coordination Française pour le Lobby Européen des Femmes (CLEF)

Equality Now

Euromed Feminist Initiative (EFI)

European Network of Migrant Women (ENOMW)

European Women’s Lobby (EWL)

Federación Estatal de Mujeres Abolicionistas (FEMAB)

Rights4Girls (R4G)

Swedish Women’s Lobby (SWL)

Survivors of Prostitution Abuse Calling for Enlightenment (SPACE International)

1

Open letter from 13 umbrella organisations representing more than 2,000 feminist, survivor-led and grassroots NGOs

to Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

We, the undersigned, representing 2,000 feminist, grassroots and survivor-led NGOs, call on the

Members of the PACE to reject and vote against the report “Protecting the human rights and

improving the lives of sex workers and victims of sexual exploitation”.

Our organisations have decades of grassroots experience in addressing issues related to

violence against women, human rights, migrant rights, prostitution and trafficking for sexual

exploitation among others. Our expertise allows us to conclude that prostitution is a violence

targeting the most vulnerable and that its legalisation (or “full decriminalisation” as quoted in the

report) poses a real threat to the lives of women in prostitution and women’s rights globally.

Our 13 umbrella organisations collectively advocate for the Equality Model on prostitution, one

that decriminalises all persons in prostitution, provides exit pathways and alternatives to them

and penalise the perpetrators: pimps and buyers of sexual acts. This model - existing among

others in Sweden and France - has proven to be efficient in protecting persons in prostitution

while fighting trafficking for sexual exploitation and was recently praised by the European Court

of Human Rights.

We wish to express our extreme concerns on the report named “Protecting the human rights and

improving the lives of sex workers and victims of sexual exploitation” which is based on a

biased, opaque consultation process with organisations promoting an approach aimed at

legalising all aspects of the prostitution system including pimping and the purchase of sexual

acts. The procedure excluded the voices of survivors of prostitution and of grassroots and

feminist organisations.

We consider that the report which will be voted on September 12th is harmful for persons in

prostitution and women’s rights for several reasons:

 The report promotes the “Belgian model” which recently went further into the

decriminalisation of pimping in its criminal code leading to disastrous consequences for

persons in prostitution, and which was denounced by grassroots NGOs on the ground

URGENT: VOTE TO REJECT THE “SEX WORK” REPORT

2

repeatedly1. The depenalisation of pimping allows pimps to hide behind legal facades to

exploit prostituted persons in total impunity. Europol addresses that where prostitution is

legal, trafficking for sexual exploitation increases2. In Germany, which legalised prostitution in

2002, 82% of persons registered in prostitution are foreigners3. Former commissioner

Manfred Paulus in charge of fighting trafficking in human beings in Ulm, underlines that

”Thanks to liberal, favourable policies towards traffickers, the red-lights districts in

Germany are and have been under the control of criminal networks for years.

These include albanic clans, the russian mafia (...) and the Hells Angels4”.

 The report fails to acknowledge that male demand for the purchase of sexual acts is the

rootcause of prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation. Where prostitution has been

legalised/”fully decriminalised”, the male demand for the purchase of sexual acts has

exploded. Germany, the Netherlands and Spain have become hotspots for sex tourism and

human trafficking. Germany is now referred to as “The Brothel of Europe”5, with 1 million men

going to a brothel every day6. In Spain, it has become normalised for young people to go to a

brothel as a birthday celebration7, and 39%8 of men acknowledge having paid for sexual acts

at least once. In the Netherlands, it is now legal for a driving instructor to request a sexual act

as a means of payment from his students9.

 The use of the terminology “sex work” goes against UN and European agreed language

which uses the neutral term “prostitution”. The International human rights law (UN 1949

Convention10) recognises prostitution as a “violation of the dignity of the human person”. It is

thus extremely difficult to understand how a violation of human dignity could be recognised

as work by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

 The report does not uphold the highest standards of protection of International and

European human rights on prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation:

 The UN 1949 Convention, a universal binding treaty, addresses that prostitution

is incompatible with human dignity. It calls on Members in its Article 1 & 2 to

penalise pimping in all of its forms including brothel owning, and profiting from

the prostitution of others even with the consent of that person11.

 The UN Palermo Protocol12 calls on States to discourage the demand that

fosters all forms of exploitation.

____

1. Prostitution : les associations féministes expriment leur profonde inquiétude quant à l’approche de la Belgique

2. Regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights

3. https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2024/07/PD24_271_228.html

4. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9A48cAUomNTZ1B0VGJRcERVbkU/edit?resourcekey=0-Vq9KWJwDo0AfEW348LZnoA

5. Mega-brothels: Has Germany become 'bordello of Europe'? BBC, 2014

6. Germany Has Become the Cut-Rate Prostitution Capital of the World | TIME.com

7. Crece el consumo de prostitución entre los más jóvenes, El Diario Solidario, 2019

8. https://www.cis.es/cis/export/sites/default/-Archivos/Marginales/2780_2799/2780/Cru278000EDAD_H.html

9. Dutch driving instructors can trade lessons for sex | CNN

10. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others

11. Art1 & 2. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others

12. Art. 9 United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children

3

 The CEDAW13 in its Article 6 calls on States to suppress the exploitation of

prostitution of women.

 The European Parliament recognises that prostitution is a “violation of human

dignity” and “an obstacle to equality between women & men, contrary to the

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU14”. In 2023, it reaffirmed that prostitution

was a violence and called on Member States to depenalise persons in

prostitution, provide exit pathways to them, penalise the purchase of sexual acts

and pimps in line with the Equality Model15.

 The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women addresses that the

“legalization of prostitution increases the demand, fosters violence against women

and girls and weakens the tools required for law enforcement to monitor, target

and prosecute perpetrators, including traffickers and other third-party exploiters.”

The rapporteur calls on Member States to adopt the five pillars of the Equality

model.

 The report makes unsubstantiated claims about so-called negative effects of the Equality

Model which the European Court of Human Rights itself refutes in the judgment M.A vs

France from July 202416. The Court addresses that there is no evidence that the

criminalisation of the purchase of sexual acts has produced negative effects towards

persons in prostitution (§155), that these effects might as well be attributed to the

prostitution system itself. It further highlights that the Equality Model law is a coherent global

approach which:

 reversed the balance of power between persons in prostitution and buyers of

sexual acts in favour of prostituted persons (§163);

 protects persons in prostitution, safeguards human dignity, fights trafficking

(§141).

It therefore upholds its conventionality.

In view of these elements, we, 13 umbrella organisations representing more than 2,000

grassroots NGOs, survivor-led organisations and feminist organisations worldwide, reaffirm that

a Europe where the most vulnerable women and girls are not commodified, bought and sold in

the sexist, racist and class-based prostitution system is possible.

We urge you to reject and vote against the harmful report on “Protecting the human rights and improving the lives of sex workers and victims of sexual exploitation”.

____

13. Art. 6 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 18 December 1979

14. European Parliament resolution of 26 February 2014 on sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality

15. Regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights

16. CEDH, Affaire M.A et autres contre France, 25/07/2024

4

SIGNATORIES:

Brussels Call

Bundesverband Nordisches Modell (BVNM)

Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)

Coalition for the Abolition of Prostitution (CAP International)

Coordination Française pour le Lobby Européen des Femmes (CLEF)

Equality Now

Euromed Feminist Initiative (EFI)

European Network of Migrant Women (ENOMW)

European Women’s Lobby (EWL)

Federación Estatal de Mujeres Abolicionistas (FEMAB)

Rights4Girls (R4G)

Swedish Women’s Lobby (SWL)

Survivors of Prostitution Abuse Calling for Enlightenment (SPACE International)