An offence, not a right

“While traditional approaches” to the phenomenon of prostitution “have shown marked limitations”, today “the main challenge is the real will of States to control prostitution with a long-term vision compatible with the imperatives of human rights”, declared SOPHIE JEKELER, president of the Belgian association “Le Nid”, dedicated to combating the trafficking of human beings, in her recent submission to the audition on “Prostitution: what attitude should we take?”, promoted in Paris by the Equal Opportunities Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). During the audition a comparative study on the legal situation of prostitutes in the 46 member states of the Council of Europe was examined. “Over the last decade – Jekeler continued -, the legal context has changed considerably in the majority of European countries. Today we are witnessing very different strategies of intervention, but all of them responding to the same objective, which is that of controlling the phenomenon of prostitution and more effectively combating the trafficking of human beings and forced prostitution”. AN INEFFECTIVE COMMON POLICY . According to Sophie Jekeler, there are three “traditional approaches to the phenomenon”, which for the most part “involves women”: first, “prohibition”, i.e. “the banning of prostitution, which is considered a crime, and, obviously, its exploitation” (Ukraine, Lithuania, Romania); second, “regulation”, i.e. the attempt to put in place “a regulated control of prostitution, considered a necessary evil, and its exploitation” (Germany, Austria, Holland, Switzerland, Greece); and third, “abolition”, i.e. “the lack of any regulation of the phenomenon, considered a private act, combined with the prohibition of its exploitation” (France, Portugal, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, Poland, UK and Spain). “The diversity of legal systems” for the control of prostitution, emphasises Jekeler, has as its direct consequence “the diffusion in Europe of networks for the trafficking of human beings that profit from the shortcomings of each system and that succeed in developing their own activities without any really effective policy being implemented at the European level”. At the same time we are witnessing “the development of new methods of promoting prostitution on the internet, on cell phones, in clubs and in specialized agencies, and a certain weakening of the legal provisions on public morality”. BUT ARE THERE ALTERNATIVES? According to Jekeler, today “the main challenge is the real will of states to control prostitution with a long-term vision compatible with the imperatives of human rights. The fact that the abolitionist approach has demonstrated its ineffectiveness is mainly because its main plank, the reintegration in society of those who engage in prostitution, has remained a dead letter in practically all the countries that ratified the New York Convention”, due to the lack “of adequate means and really effective policies of prevention”. On the other hand, those countries that “have privileged the regulatory approach have underestimated the influence of criminal activities on the ‘sex industry’ and the reluctance of those who prostitute themselves to be officially identified as such”. “So long as the right to engage in prostitution is recognized, the right not to do so must at the same time be guaranteed”. In Jekeler’s view, an intermediate approach therefore needs to be developed: one that permits persons to engage in prostitution in the best possible conditions, but that at the same time offers them the means to find alternatives to this activity; to this end the territorial associations must be supported in their role of contacting, assisting and counselling these persons”. INJURED DIGNITY AND SOCIAL SCOURGE . “Prostitution does injury to the person who engages in it, reducing the person to an instrument of sexual pleasure. The one who pays sins gravely against himself”. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 2355) is very clear and firm in its attitude to prostitution and contests without hesitation the right to engage in it. “Prostitution – continues the Catechism – is a social scourge. It usually involves women, but also men, children, and adolescents (the latter two cases involve the added sin of scandal). While it is always gravely sinful to engage in prostitution, the imputability of the offence can be attenuated by destitution, blackmail, or social pressure”. Alongside the Catechism, the Church places her mission of justice and charity. Countless denunciations have been made by the Christian community for the failings of the institutions in response to prostitution (as on the occasion on the World Cup in Germany). Ever more numerous initiatives are being taken to curb this sordid trade and help recover its many victims.