Human trafficking

Is outlawing commercial sex the best way to fight modern slavery?

A half hour short of midnight, after a long debate, a broad cross-party consensus eventually emerged among the members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. On 20 October 2014, the Belfast parliament voted 81 to 10 to outlaw the purchase of sexual services on its territory. The new legislation, proposed by a member of the Unionist Party, received the crucial backing of the Republican Party in the Assembly. Given this broad support, it is believed that the law will be promulgated by mid- 2015.

Irish Republicans and Protestant Unionist found themselves sharing the view that human trafficking is best tackled by criminalising the purchase of sexual services. Currently, sex commerce is considered legal if there is no coercion, threats or violence. With the new law, buying sex will be considered illegal under any circumstances. However, the sale of sexual services will remain legal so that sex workers aren’t criminalised.

Northern Ireland may soon join Sweden, Norway and Iceland in criminalising the purchase of sex as a way to fight human trafficking. France’s Assembly also voted in favour of similar legislation in December 2013, although the measures were later rejected by a Senate Select Committee.

In February 2014, the European Parliament approved a report by the British MEP Mary Honeyball that recommended criminalising the purchasing of sexual services in the European Union as a measure to combat human trafficking. The vote in Northern Ireland could potentially have a broad reach. It was immediately followed by a call to extend the same legislation to the rest of the United Kingdom and to the Republic of Ireland.

Human trafficking refers to the coerced movement of individuals for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation or other types of labour exploitation. It is distinct from undocumented migration, so-called ‘human smuggling’, as trafficking refers only to situations where offenders buy and sell control over a victim. Trafficking is similar to a modern form of slavery.

Eurostat, the European statistical office, estimates there are almost 11,000 identified and potential trafficking victims in the European Union (2012). The majority are believed to be in four member states: Italy (2,631), the United Kingdom (2,145), the Netherlands (1,711) and Romania (1,041). Victims tend to be trafficked for sexual exploitation; however, other forms of exploitation are becoming more frequent, including labour exploitation in the agriculture, construction and hospitality sectors, domestic servitude and forced begging. In 2010, 78% of victims were subject to sexual exploitation; in 2011, the number dropped to 62%.

While it is widely agreed that human trafficking is a villainous activity, there is no consensus on how best to tackle it. Combatting trafficking has proven to be a contentious issue that, beyond the ethical aspect, often has a moral dimension. This is even more the case when it comes to trafficking for sexual exploitation. Two opposite approaches have been proposed: the legalisation and regulation of prostitution, and the criminalisation of participants in the sex trade. The so-called ‘Swedish model’ criminalises only customers; other models also criminalise sellers.

Sweden decided to outlaw the purchase of sexual services in 1999, but not their sale. Other countries have adopted a completely different approach. The Netherlands legalised prostitution in 2000 while Germany did the same two years later.

One major issue relates to how societies should regard individuals who buy sexual services. Are they perpetrators who deserve to be punished or, rather, allies with whom to engage in the fight against trafficking? In other words, are clients part of the problem or are they part of the solution?

An NGO worker based in Italy recently told us that half of the victims to whom they have offered shelter had been identified thanks to reports made by their former clients. In her undercover expose of the London sex industry, Hsiao-Hung Pai tells of a potential case of human trafficking reported to the authorities by a former client.

Some law enforcement agencies as well as NGOs and charities have expressed concern that criminalising prostitution will drive the sex trade further underground, increasing violence and hindering efforts to tackle trafficking. So far, evidence about the Swedish model’s effectiveness in combating human trafficking is far from decisive. Who should be regarded as victim – and who should not – is also controversial. The Swedish model is premised on the idea that prostitution cannot be consensual.

Therefore, all prostitutes are victims and should be treated as such. The link between prostitution and human trafficking, however, has been questioned by some sex workers, including the International Prostitute’s Collective. The problem, they maintain, is not about prostitution but rather exploitation, and thus it should be tackled by implementing effective regulations.

Existing law covering serious offences such as abduction, kidnapping, grievous bodily harm or rape could be used to prosecute assailants.

A recent study by researchers at Queen’s University Belfast concluded that the “majority of people selling sexual services in Northern Ireland is not trafficked”; in addition, 98% of the sex workers interviewed as part of the same study declared themselves to be against the criminalisation of clients, citing their fear of losing “decent clients” and an increased exposure to risk. In the end, this was clearly a view that lawmakers in Belfast did not share.