Examining Alternatives to Globalization
Finance & Econ
Butcher/Confusion Between Prostituti0n and Sex Trafficking 307
continent. lts countertrafficking projects focus on information campaigns, counseling services, research, safe conduct and assistance for victims, and working with governments on their legal systems to stop trafficking.
What are your first impressions of this posterT
For Class Discussion 1. How would you describe the girl on this poster? 2. What is the emotional effect of the combination of the photo of the
girl, the words "FOR SALE," afld the placement of the words? 3. What primary and secondary audiences do you think this poster is
attempting to reach?
4. Examine the "What We Do" link of the Web site of this organization (www.iom.int/). How does this organization on its Web site and in this poster establish the connections between migration and human trafficking? What are some of those connections?
5. What readings in this chapter does this poster support? I
Confusion Betrnreen Prostitution and Sex Trafficking Kate Butcher
Kate Butcher is a public health consultant with John Snow Research lnter- national and Training, a leading provider of consultatlon on public health based in the United Kingdom. She has worked extensively with HIV/AIDS programs in Africa and Asia, and she has written much about combating AIDS, including her 200'l article "Danger and Opportunity: Responding to HIV with Vision," published in the journal Gender and Development.Iler article here was originally published in the Lancet on June 7, 2003. The Lancet, a well-known and highly reputable British medical journal dating from 1823, is "an independent and authoritative voice in global medicine." It has always sought to "combine publication of the best medical science with a zeal to counter the forces that undermine the values of medicine, be they political, social, or commercial" (from "About The Lancet" at www .thelancet.com/about).
How does the thesis of Butcher's article suit the reformist purpose of this medical lournal?
t In May, 2003, the US government passed the Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003, which outlines the areas and support that the US administration is prepared to endorse in the fight against these diseases. The act includes the limitation that
308 CHAPTER 6 Human Rights
"No funds made available to carry out this Act . . . may be used to provide assistance to any group or organization that does not have a policy explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking."1
This statement might go unnoticed, but it deserves attention. The juxtaposition of the terms prostitution and sex trafficking demonstrates a belief that both share similar characteristics, and thus reflects moral ideology rather than objective reality.
The distinction between trafficking and prostitution is impor- tant because it pivots on individual agency. Trafficking, though variously defined,2 covers coercion, forced labour, and slavery. Prostitution describes the sale of sex, by no means necessarily with- out consent or with coercion. At a time when trafficking is increas- ing, as are international efforts to tackle it, it is critical to clarify the differences between the issues.3
The merging of these issues is not new nor confined to the USA. In Asia, where human trafficking (both for prostitution and for bonded labour) has a longer history than in Europe, resPonses by governments and feminist grouPs alike have often been to call for eradication of prostitution, and therefore trafficking.
But this approach overlooks an important fact; millions of women have made the decision to sell sex, usually but not always, on eco- nomic grounds. Selling sex is a pragmatic response to a limited range of options. If you can eam the equivalent of LrK €100 in a night why knit sweaters or sweep floors to eam the same money in a month?
When women's groups call for rehabilitation and rescue of traf- ficked and prostituted women they argue from their own moral perspective and not that of the women they are seeking to save. The situation is complex, in that a spectrum can exist between traffick- ing and prostitution, with trafficked girls at one end and women who have decided to work as prostitutes at the other. Some women who have been trafficked may eventually begin to define them- selves as sex workers. The longer a woman is involved in the sex industry the more likely this is to be the case; 6 years after being trafficked to India a Nepalese woman told me: "Why would I want to return to Nepal? I have friends here, I make good money. In Nepal what would I do? Look after goats and have no money! I'm good at my job and I know it. I don't want to return to Nepal."
Of course there will be other women and men who may wish to leave the sex industry. The responsibility of public health, devel- opment, and human rights workers is to ensure that individuals enjoy the same level of human rights whatever their involvement in the sex industry.
The prominence of debate about sex work and trafficking has grown largely as a result of the HIV epidemic.a Sex workers, initially identified as a public health threat, embodied in phrases such as
1',!
Butcher/Confusion Between Prostitution and Sex Trafficking 309
"pools of infection" and "vectors of disease" , wete recruited to pro- mote safer sex. Sex workers around the world have been practising safer sex and educated many of their clients to do the same.s Their importance in responding to the HIV epidemic is evident, but evi- dence of improved rights for these men and women is harder to find.
Key rights listed in the UNAIDS handbook for legislators on HIV, law, and human rights include: . Non-discrimination and equality before the law . Freedom from inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment . Autonomy,liberty, and security of the person
All over the world these basic entitlements are violated in the context of sex work. It is rare to read of a successful lawsuit made by a sex worker against a rapist, violation from a policeman, or un- lawful arrest.
By merging trafficking and prostitution, the agency of sex workers is overlooked. Rather than promoting opposition to prosti- tution we would do better to promote human rights. The riglrt to resist being drawn into prostitution by trafficking certainly, but so too the right to work with the law's protection from harm, be it rape, violence, robbery, or other violations.
We can expect sex workers to continue contributing to the fight against HIV and thus to public health: it is after all in everyone's in- terest including their own. We should also expect public health and development professionals to support their so doing without fear for their lives or their safety-in sum, by advocating for the human rights of sex workers.
HR 1298 US leadership against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria act of 2003. http:/ /www.thebody.com/govt/ global_aids.html (accessed May, 2003). Luckoo F, Tzvetkova M. Combating trafficking in persons: a directory of organisa- tions. London: Change, 2002.
Human Rights Caucus. UN trafficking protocol: lost opportunity to protect the rights of trafficked persons. December, 2000. htlp / /www.unodc.un.or.th/factsheet/ fact2001_trafficking.htm (accessed May, 2003).
Kotiswaran P Preparing for civii disobedience: Indian sex workers and the law. 21 Boston College Third Wotld Law l, no 2, Spring,2007. Network of Sex Work Projects. Making sex work safe. http:/ /www.nswp.org/ safety / msws / (accessed May, 2003).
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For CIass Discussion 1. According to Butcher, what is the complex relationship between sex
trafficking, prostitution, human rights, and the AIDS epidemic? Why does Butcher claim it is important to distinguish between prostitution and sex trafficking?
2. Whom is Butcher criticizing and rebutting in this article?
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310 CHAPTER 6 Human Fights
3. What reasoning and evidence does Butcher offer to support her views?
\A/hat assumptions do readers have to accept in order to agree with Butcher's argument?
Butcher has worked extensively in global public health and in com- bating AIDS around the world. How does knowledge of her back- ground influence your response to this article? I
Letter to Colin Pornrell on the Trafficking in Persons Report 2003 Human Rights Watch, LaShawn B. Jefferson
Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization sup- ported by independent contributors, not the government. lt is the largest organization for human rights based in the United States (New York). A staff of lawyers, journalists, researchers, people with knowledge of particular coun- tries, and volunteers work "with victims and activists to prevent discrimina- tion, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice" (www.hrw.org/about/). Human Rights Watch investigates and publicizes human rights violations, bringing public pressure to bear on governments. This 2003 open letter, signed by LaShawn R. Jefferson, Executive Director of the Women's Rights Division, was retrieved from the Human Rights Watch Web site on October 28,2004.
How is this open letter tailored to its immediate audience, Colin L. Powell, secretary of state during President George W. Bush's first term?
The Honorable Colin L. Powell Secretary of State U.S. Department of State 2207 C Street, N.W Washington,D.C.20520
1lune27,2003
Dear Secretary Powell:
t We write to share some concerns about the U.S. State Department's third annual Trafficking in Persons Report (Trafficking Report). The tafficking Report has the potential to become a powerful tool to address trafficking worldwide. Howeveq, persistent shortcomings seriously undermine its effectiveness. We urge the State Depart- ment to remedy those shortcomings in future reports.