The European Parliament declared: prostitution is a form of violence against women

The declaration of prostitution as violence is seen as a great step forward

...but there is still room for improvement in the field of adultworks

In an important resolution adopted on September 14, the European Parliament stated that prostitution is a form of violence against women and is not just an erotic job or individual choice.

According to the assessment of women's advocacy associations, this resolution represents a victory for prostitution survivors.

However, political will is needed to reduce the currently flourishing human trafficking for sexual exploitation, primarily involving women and young girls.

Two main views regarding adult work

There are two opposing viewpoints on the issue of prostitution, and these differences are also clearly manifested in the European Parliament.

1. One approach supports the liberalization of brothels, such as the German and Dutch models.
   According to this model, prostitution should not be banned, but regulated since there are people who voluntarily choose this sexjob, and they should be helped, not stigmatized.
2. The other approach is the Nordic "equality model".
   This emphasizes that both traffickers and buyers should be punished, as prostitution is largely based on the exploitation of vulnerable women.

In this model, prostitutes are initially not punished, and in fact receive extensive social, health, mental and labor assistance, can choose support programs for quitting the sex industry, and their human rights are fully respected.

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States are trying to remedy the situation of sexy jobs through the police

At the same time, the states applying the model also try to handle the situation partly with the police. As a result, prostitutes in the most vulnerable situations (immigrants, members of minorities, and the poor) can also be victims of harassment by public authorities, according to some perceptions.

The resolution emphasizes that "persons involved in prostitution, especially women living in poverty, as well as migrants, racially discriminated and LGBTQ+ people, do not have legal security due to the disproportionate and de facto criminalization, high level of surveillance, fines and house raids.".

All this results in further marginalization and stigmatization, which negatively affects the physical and mental health of sexworkers.

Legalizing the purchase of sexual services and proxenetism will increase demand and normalize the purchase of sexual services.

The consequence of this system is that people involved in prostitution remain stigmatized.

Several studies have shown that the normalization of the purchase of women's bodies is associated with an increase in violence against women and the spread of prejudice against women in prostitution and women in general.

Some member states, such as Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria, have tried to end the stigma and dependence of prostitutes by fully legalizing prostitution and providing them with greater safety and labor rights.

However, according to the resolution of the European Parliament, the legalization model did not bring the expected improvement for sex workers.

You can read more about the background of the decision made by the European Parliament here:

In areas where prostitution is legal, it is easier for traffickers to exploit the legal environment to exploit victims of sex trafficking.

It often happens that traffickers can hide their activities behind legally registered businesses and thus take advantage of women who make a living from their sexy job.

This makes it difficult for the police and law enforcement authorities to fight human trafficking effectively.

According to the resolution

the normalization of prostitution by legalizing the purchase of sexual services negatively affects young people's perception and expectations of sexuality.

It also negatively affects relationships between women and men and it affects gender equality.

Significant changes in the field of adult work since the introduction of the Scandinavian model

The resolution highlights that significant and positive changes in the attitudes of boys and men have occurred in Sweden since the introduction of the Scandinavian (equality) model.

Women involved in prostitution are seen less as means to satisfy men's sexual desires and more as victims of exploitation, which discourages them from purchasing sexual services.

On the other hand, in the research they asked people who make use of sexual services for their opinion.

According to the results of the research, 55% of people who bought sexual services in Germany encountered a trafficker during the transaction, and 39% felt they had the right to do whatever they wanted with the female prostitutes after paying for them.

In the European Parliament, there are two main views on the issue of prostitution

On one side are the supporters of "sex work", including the majority of the Green parties, as well as most of the representatives of the liberal Renew Europe.

They interpret prostitution from a human rights perspective and believe that harm reduction and support for prostitutes is the right approach, not stigmatization.

Anna Donáth, the Hungarian MEP representative, also used this point of view to justify why she voted against the resolution: because, according to her, it emphasizes the punishment and criminalization of the purchase of sexual services, instead of focusing on the protection of the rights and health of those who work in it.

Andrew Tate also showed us why we need better laws for prostitution so that such situations do not become normal:



"Anna Donáth supports the so-called Dutch model, according to which, instead of criminalization, the focus should be on protecting the rights and physical and mental health of sex workers. Regulated frameworks must be provided that enable them to do their erotic job safely and with dignity," the party said in response to questions by rtl.hu.

The equality model does not aim at stigmatizing prostitutes, it actually offers the kind of help that those who argue in favor of the liberalization of "sex work" also demand.

According to some women's rights organizations, many representatives are not sufficiently informed on the subject and often confuse basic concepts.

At the same time, based on their values, they could potentially support the suppression of prostitution.

However, the task of government representatives would be to stand up for the protection of women forced into prostitution, but this would raise many complex questions, problems and costs that they simply do not want to undertake.

What about prevention and assistance for prostitutes?

Ensuring a high level of social care is essential for prevention and also for helping survivors of prostitution.

Many times these people are in poor health and mental health, as they were often subjected to violence in childhood, which can also cause them to suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

In addition, drug use is also widespread among people in adult work.

Although there are pilot programs to support survivors, these are organized by civilians and religious organizations.

The survival of such programs is greatly influenced by whether there are sufficient resources, as certain governments prefer to shift the task to the civil sector in this case as well, without providing any real help for sex workers.

In many countries, women do not have the means to get help, or therapy if they work as prostitutes.



Most prostitutes become victims of human trafficking as minors,

some girls even become prostitutes at 13 years old.

The most fundamental problem is that although the police are trying to act against the sexual exploitation of girls and women, the government should devote much more resources to prevention.

Similar to the Swedish equality model, it is considered human trafficking if someone is not forced into prostitution, but is taken advantage of because of their hopeless economic situation, which left them with no other choice.

In many cases like these, a sexjob becomes the last resort that they have no choice but to take.

Such measures are aimed at the abuse and exploitation of women through adult work and are also important steps taken by the government in terms of prevention.

However, law enforcement cannot compensate for serious deficiencies resulting from the weakness of the social network

Serious flaws in the child protection system highlight its ineffectiveness in preventing the commercial use of the bodies of vulnerable young girls.

For example, Hungary is considered a source country in the field of human trafficking for prostitution, as prostitutes are first "broken in" at home, and then later brought back or transported abroad.

Risk factors for entering prostitution include, for example, childhood sexual abuse, a dysfunctional, abusive family environment, early emotional neglect, upbringing in public care, severe financial poverty, and being born female.

Prostitution is often associated with severe recurring abuse, starvation and drug use, and the physical and mental health of those involved is severely damaged.

Early pregnancy is also a common problem.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that young victims often form an emotional bond with the "lover boy" men, who target vulnerable girls, pretend to be in a love relationship, and gain their trust, so the victims often do not even see themselves as victims of human trafficking.

Everyone is probably familiar with the Tate case, in which women were forced to do erotic jobs using the loverboy method:



In Europe, 90% of prostitutes are women or girls, while 97% of buyers of sexual services are men.

Prostitution is actually based on the oppression of women and operates within the structures of a patriarchal society.

It exploits the social and economic vulnerability of women to men, and for this reason, the equality model considers prostitution to be an extreme manifestation of patriarchy.

Its main aim is to prevent vulnerable women from entering the system of prostitution, support them to exit and protect them afterwards.

All of this highlights additional aspects of violence against women and shows that the government needs to eliminate fundamental, systemic deficiencies when it comes to adultworks.

In the field of child protection, "the fight against the LGBTQ lobby" is not the most pressing problem either, but real problems, such as sexual and physical violence within the family, poverty, the chances of success for children brought up in state care, sex education - and we could go on and on...

The European Parliament's resolution also emphasizes these measures, which member states should consider important for sex workers.

This kind of change would indeed require significant costs, especially in a country where funding for education, social and health care is critically low.

However, the lack of measures costs women and children their lives in the long run.

The European Parliament's position is definitely an important political message, but it is also important to note that the introduction of the equality model in the countries where it has already taken place required broad social cooperation and the persistent work of feminist organizations over many years.

The legally binding force of the resolution is limited for the member states, and it will probably take a long time before changes begin anywhere, both from a social, political, and legal point of view for erotic job.

Source: Mérce.