Reem Alsalem:
During and after my presentation of my report on #prostitution and #VAWG at #HRC56, many States, parliamentarians and others asked for lessons learned regarding exit strategies. I have therefore prepared this paper summarizing the lessons learned from exit strategies for #women in prostitution, which can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/4fjYa7e
From her tweet: https://x.com/UNSRVAW/status/1851163624628215846
Position paper: lessons learned from the implementation of exit programs for women in prostitution
- Understanding prostitution as a system of violence against women and girls
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/position-paper-exit-programs-lessons-implementation-women-prostitution-1-en.pdf
See also:
Across the world, the exploitation of women and girls through prostitution and sex trafficking is a pervasive issue that threatens their safety and rights. Alsalem remarked that many systems of prostitution are built on patriarchal norms that position the abuse of power at the hands of mostly men, who are largely the ‘buyers' or the profiteers in the sex trade. Deeper economic inequalities and the complexities of emergency humanitarian situations have only further displaced women and girls from systems that would have protected and empowered them.
Alsalem remarked that efforts to normalize or recognize prostitution as a form of labor, such as referring to it as "sex work," do more harm by gaslighting the women who have experienced it, and it fails to consider the serious human rights violations that can occur within the system, such as the physical and psychological harm they experience under this umbrella of "labor."
Pornography should also be classified as a form of prostitution and violence against women at large, according to Alsalem. She noted that its proliferation has only normalized acts of violence and harmful attitudes towards women and girls. Alsalem told IPS that the online platforms that host pornographic material only further incentivize and promote these acts and other forms of coercive and nonconsensual sexual acts.
Regardless of the platform, how it is branded or how one enters the trade, the system of prostitution is based on the commodification of the body to undergo physical activity and under that there cannot be consent, Alsalem argues.
Continues at https://www.globalissues.org/news/2024/10/03/37863