Transcript Reducing Harm to Sex Workers and Victims of Trafficking in the Sex

Reducing Harm to
Sex Workers and Victims
of Trafficking in the
Sex Industry
Dr. Jill McCracken
Associate Professor
University of South Florida St. Petersburg
October 4, 2016
Overview
• Sex work and trafficking in the sex industry
• What is harm reduction?
• What does harm reduction look like?
• Applying harm reduction strategies to sex work and
trafficking in the sex industry
Sex Work
• Includes a range of erotic labor – both legal and illegal;
• The exchange of sex or sexualized intimacy for something
of value;
• Includes men, women and transgender individuals;
• Legal: erotic dancing, pornography, and phone sex
operators;
• Illegal: prostitution within the US, outside of some counties
in Nevada
Choice and Coercion
• Sex work spans continuums of choice;
• Sex work requires consent;
• Trafficking of individuals for sex requires sexual
violence, coercion, the absence of consent, or when an
individual is under eighteen;
• These continuums of choice exist for individuals in
manufacturing, agricultural, and domestic services, as
well as others;
Beliefs often held about
Prostitution/Sex Work
• Prostitution is inherently exploitative and
victimizing;
• All sex workers are victims
• No one can “choose” sex work/prostitution
These beliefs can lead to the conflation of sex
work and trafficking in the sex industry—which
harms sex workers and victims of trafficking.
Conflating Prostitution
and Trafficking
Trafficking occurs in sex work as it does in other types of
labour. However, the issue of trafficking in sex work has been
singled out, its scale and potential for harm frequently misstated or exaggerated to bolster anti-prostitution arguments,
inflame public opinion, and justify repressive and
counterproductive police action. Conflation of sex work with
trafficking leads not only to difficulties with definition and
harm to sex workers on the ground, but also to conflicts that
undermine HIV prevention.
The Lancet, Sex Work and HIV, 2015
Conflating Prostitution
and Trafficking
• silences the voices of sex workers
• shifts attention and resources from the actual
victims of trafficking in the sex industry
Trafficking in Florida
• Labor trafficking is the most prevalent type of human
trafficking that occurs in Florida
• Agriculture
• Tourism and hospitality
• Domestic (US citizens) minor sex trafficking constitutes the
other most prevalent and yet most under-reported and
under-prosecuted human trafficking offense in Florida
• Males are increasingly being identified as human trafficking
victims
“Current Trafficking Trends”; 2010; Center for the
Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University
Sex Trafficking in Florida
• “Women who have willingly migrated for sex work are
found alongside women who are being trafficked sexually
against their will. [… These cases] involve both consenting
and non-consenting participants in prostitution ventures.”
• Many children in the sex industry are dealt with as
criminals rather than victims;
“Current Trafficking Trends”, 2010. Center for the
Advancement of Human Rights, Florida State University
Underage Involvement in
the Sex Industry
• 45% of the kids were male; 48% female, and 8% transgender;
• 48% were African American and “mixed race”; 24% were
white; and 23% were Hispanic
• Only 10% were involved with a “market facilitator” (e.g., pimp)
at the time of the interview;
• More than 90% were US born
• 95% said they exchanged sex for money because it was the
surest way to support themselves;
• Besides employment, 51% cited education and 41% cited stable
housing as necessary for them to leave their current life;
The Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children in New York City, 2008
Underage Involvement
in the Sex Industry
• 949 young people ages 13-24 were interviewed;
• A substantial portion is not cis female (36% cis male; 4% trans
female)
• 15% of youth in the sex trade were working with a pimp
• focusing public debate and programming on pimped cis girls
may exclude nearly 80% of the cis female population and an
even higher percentage of all youth
“Youth Involvement in the Sex Trade: A National Study”;
2016; Center for Court Innovation;
Who is Vulnerable to
Human Trafficking?
• People excluded from labor protections (farms, domestic
work, factories, low-wage industries, among others)
• Marginal statuses often dictate the way people are exploited
(legal status; labor protections; stigma (transgender, people
of color; sex workers; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender youth, etc.);
• Marginal status combined with lack of legal protection
creates the conditions whereby trafficking can occur.
• People without legal protection are vulnerable to traffickers
because they are afraid of law enforcement, the criminal
justice system, or other institutional bodies of power;
What is harm
reduction?
• Historically been associated with drug use;
• Does not condemn or condone any form of drug use or
lifestyle;
• Considers drug use to be a health issue, not a legal one;
• Includes a non-judgmental health education approach based
on evidence (rather than opinions or value judgments);
• Provides information so people can make their own
informed choices;
Examples of Harm
Reduction
• Syringe exchange programs;
• HIV testing;
• Linkages to care and other critical health/social services;
• Condoms provided to prevent sexually transmitted infections;
• Safer consumption sites/medically supervised injection sites;
• Overdose prevention and training;
• Peer workers;
Harm Reduction…
• Affirms the human rights and dignity of people;
• Manages the risks associated with particular behaviors;
• Manages the risks associated with the prohibition and
criminalization of certain behaviors;
• Focuses on health issues, rather than legal status;
Criminalization Creates
Harm
• In New York, possession of more than three condoms was
considered evidence of prostitution;
• Transgender women of color are often profiled as engaging
in prostitution;
• Sex solicitation arrestees present disparities in gender as well
as race;
• Arresting people who use drugs does not reduce the number
of drug users; it pushes them to use in a more risky way;
• Arresting people for prostitution does not reduce the number
of people buying or selling sex; it pushes them to sell and
buy in more risky ways;
Impacts of
Criminalization
• People with drug felonies and sex offenses are denied access to
federal assistance, including food stamps and section 8 housing
creating cycles of release and re-incarceration;
• People with drug and prostitution-related charges often return to
street economies in order to take care of themselves and their
families;
• Taxpayer dollars are spent funneling people in and out of jail and
prison rather than helping people with felonies become stable, or,
avoid felony charges in the first place.
• “We cannot eradicate slavery-like conditions with slavery-like
conditions. We cannot incarcerate exploitation and violence away
when incarceration itself is exploitative and violent.”
Magalie Lerman, Beth Weinstein Fellow NASTAD
“Casualties of War: The Wars on Drugs and Trafficking; June 30, 2015
Criminalization of
Prostitution
• Increase sex workers’ and trafficking victims’
vulnerability to abusers’ violence
• Promote impunity
• Push sex work and trafficking underground, and
• Increase stigma and discrimination
Criminalization and
Violence
• “It is not uncommon to hear that young people experience
violence more often from law enforcement officials than
from any other group.”
• This violence takes the form of physical and sexual assault;
• “Young people’s involvement in trading sex needs to be
decriminalized. No one under the age of 18 should be
arrested for this. This social issue will not be solved by
arresting and prosecuting youth.”
Alexandra Lutnick, PhD, RTI International; Domestic
Minor Sex Trafficking: Beyond Victims and Villains, 2016
Impact of
Criminalization
Arrests…
• Do not address the underlying issues;
• Often lead to charges related to prostitution and citizenship
status, which can further compromise individuals in vulnerable
situations;
• Require survivors to navigate the criminal justice system as a
defendant;
• Can worsen the individual’s trafficking situation and make
them more vulnerable to further trafficking;
Shifts in Policies
• 2013 New York reformed their law to stop police and
prosecutors from using possession of condoms as
evidence of prostitution;
• 2013 Anti-Prostitution Pledge was found to be
unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court;
• 2016 Congress Ends Ban on Federal Funding for
Needle Exchange Program;
Amnesty International’s
Resolution
Authorized the International Board to develop and adopt
• “a policy that supports the full decriminalization of all
aspects of consensual sex work. The policy will also call on
states to ensure that sex workers enjoy full and equal legal
protection from exploitation, trafficking and violence.”
• The policy draws from an extensive evidence base, including
sources from UN agencies, such as the World Health
Organization, UNAIDS and the UN Special Rapporteur on
the Right to Health, as well as their research conducted in
four countries.
“Global movement votes to adopt policy to protect human
rights of sex workers”; 2015; amnestyinternational.org
What is Decriminalization
of Prostitution?
• applies to laws that criminalize adult consensual sex and
related activities, including laws criminalizing sex work;
buying, soliciting, or procuring; brothel-keeping and
management of sex work, and vagrancy, loitering, and
public nuisance that are also used to target sex workers or
clients;
• does not repeal laws against trafficking, child sexual
exploitation, or other forms of violence;
• decreases violence, trafficking, and HIV and other sexually
transmitted infections;
The Lancet, Sex Work and HIV, 2015
Systemic and Economic
Frameworks
• Explore existing conditions that make people more vulnerable
to traffickers;
• Move beyond individual traffickers and individual victims;
Consider:
•
•
•
•
•
Immigration policies
Homelessness; lack of support systems;
Lack of empowered sexuality education;
Lack of viable economic opportunities;
Stigma; Exploitation based on gender and sexuality;
Human Rights Based
Approaches
• Focus on human rights outcomes (i.e., increasing access to safe
living and working conditions) rather than criminal justice
outcomes (i.e. higher arrest rates)
• Direct resources toward programs that assist victims rather than
toward creating laws and policies that serve to further entrench
abuses;
• Measure progress in housing people, providing basic needs, a
living wage, sexuality education;
• Respect the self-determination of the individual;
• Consider social service needs—housing, medical, food,
networking, navigating systems; addressing trauma, education;
• Consider legal needs—family, immigration, criminal justice
system, harms committed through survivors’ arrests and
prosecutions; civil litigations;
“A truly modern and relevant anti-trafficking agenda will
continue to focus on getting rid of coercion and exploitative
work environments, but it must also include explicit goals to
end over-policing, arrest of sex workers, profiling of and
violence against trans women, dangerous immigrant detention
and deportation practices, and discrimination in the criminal
justice system. These are the ways we honor the memories
and experiences of people who experienced and survived
slavery, and keep moving forward to end trafficking today.”
Juhu Thukral, Director of Law and Advocacy at The Opportunity Agenda,
“Human Trafficking and Racial Justice,” The Huffington Post, January 18, 2016