On September 28th, 2010, in an unprecedented judicial move, an Ontario court struck down three provisions that criminalize activities related to prostitution. Prostitution itself is not illegal in Canada but ancillary activities like advertising and management are criminalized. Ontario Supreme Court Judge Susan Himel cited evidence that these laws contribute to a climate in which sex workers are unsafe because they are forced to operate in secrecy.
Since 2003, U.S. government funding to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been subject to an anti-prostitution clause forbidding the “promotion of prostitution” by grant recipients. There are few published articles about the effects of PEPFAR’s anti-prostitution policy requirement because discussing activities that are not clearly approved under the funding restrictions can jeopardize a program.
A recent report by Human Rights Watch describes the abuse of sex workers by Cambodian police, who declared open season on sex workers in the wake of a new anti-trafficking law that criminalizes sex work. The new law was a response to the perennial threat of US economic sanctions against nations that are not seen to be ‘doing enough’ to combat trafficking in persons.
Around the world, people turn to sex work in the hopes of earning a living wage – and maybe even to support their families. But misguided policies routinely deny them that right.
Understanding the distinction between trafficking and sex work is crucial, because Congress is poised to re-authorize the federal law against human trafficking with new provisions that will both increase penalties for sex workers and effectively decrease our ability to aid genuine victims of trafficking.
Even those who mean well sometimes confuse the human rights abuse of trafficking in persons with the human occupation of prostitution, or sex work. It’s understandable because of the history of the two fields, but it creates rather than solves problems.