Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

Europe Must Target Demand To Fight Sex Trafficking

Hannah Bondi 20th September 2018

Hannah Bondi

Hannah Bondi

Sex trafficking is big business. The ILO estimates that global sex trafficking generates $99 billion in profits every year for traffickers. It’s an exploitation industry that has grown rapidly in the past few decades. Sex trafficking, as understood by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW), is the trafficking in persons for “the recruitment and transportation, within and across borders, of a person for the purpose of sexual exploitation”. This sexual slavery is happening on our doorsteps, with Western European countries among the primary countries of demand. In 2002, the IMO found that 120,000 women and children were being trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation every year in Europe. Recent findings have shown that there were 20,800 victims of sex trafficking in 28 EU member states from 2010 to 2012.

The overwhelming majority (98% to be exact) of persons trafficked for sexual exploitation are females. This is because commercial sexual exploitation is demand-driven. Put simply, there is a sexual demand for women and girls from male sex buyers who want to pay as little as possible. Sex traffickers therefore provide sex buyers with a cheap, albeit highly exploitative, way to buy sex and sex buyers are, on the whole, not concerned with the enslavement of the person they are buying. Those most likely to be victims are vulnerable women and girls who can easily be ‘disappeared’. This makes those in poverty most likely to be trafficked. Often, women and girls in poverty are trafficked through deception. They’ll respond to a work advertisement in another country, travel to that country, have their documents taken from them and be forced into sexual slavery.

Vulnerability also comes in forms other than poverty. There is no better hunting ground for sex traffickers than a refugee camp. Refugees and migrants are the easiest people to disappear, making them particular targets for sex traffickers. 10,000 child migrants went missing in Europe in 2016 alone, many of whom are thought to have been trafficked for sexual exploitation. Children are sought out by traffickers as they fetch a higher price because sex buyers see them as ‘untouched’, ‘innocent’ and ‘pure’ and are willing to pay more for them. Sex traffickers are taking advantage of a globalised world, where the movement of goods, information and people has become more widespread. As Colette DeTroy, Director of the European Women’s Lobby on Violence Against Women, noted: “All over the world, women, sexuality and sexual services are considered good trade for people who have money”.

Dutch liberalism

In Europe, the staggering growth of sex trafficking is partly attributed to the fall of the Soviet Union. Social and political instability, economic collapse and high levels of unemployment have led to thriving organised crime rings in Central and Eastern Europe which prey on young women and girls. Further sex trafficking routes into Europe have opened up from West Africa and other former European colonies. The top five countries with the highest rate of registered victims of sex trafficking are Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and the Netherlands.

EUROPOL has concluded that the Netherlands tops the list because of its legalisation of prostitution. Legalisation has made the Netherlands a safe destination for sex traffickers as victims are sold into legal brothels. Indeed, this evaluation is backed by other experts who have found that, across 150 countries, states that legalise prostitution consistently have much higher rates of sex trafficking. After Germany legalised prostitution, it saw a sharp increasein human trafficking also. This legal model has led to the normalisation of prostitution, creating more demand and making it easier for traffickers to hide enslaved women and girls within the commercial sex industry.

In order to truly fight sex trafficking Europe must fight the demand. The essential idea is to hit traffickers where it hurts the most. Without demand there would be no supply. If you reduce the financial incentives for traffickers and increase the severity of risk, sex trafficking will decrease. Harvard professor and world-leading expert on sex trafficking, Siddharth Kara, suggests that we need to turn the “risk-reward economics” of sex trafficking on its head. The question is then what can be done to reduce demand. Currently, there is very little risk for sex traffickers who are hardly ever punished and who profit immensely.

Nordic solution

Kara states that “the Nordic Model is in my mind the most effective model for eliminating sex trafficking”. It decriminalises any person who is selling sex but criminalises sex buyers and third parties (i.e. brothel owners). Adopted in Sweden, Norway and Iceland, the Nordic Model has been proven to reduce demand for buying sex, thereby reducing sex trafficking, as well as other forms of sexual exploitation. By reducing demand there are fewer financial incentives for sex traffickers and the country in question is seen as an unsafe destination by them. The ideal would be for all countries to adopt this law, making all countries unsafe destinations and reducing demand across the board.

Yet, a more holistic approach that goes beyond the law is needed. European countries should also follow Sweden’s example of creating the role of an anti-trafficking ambassador. Given the scale of human trafficking, especially sex trafficking, in Europe, an official position in government that focuses solely on trafficking is required. We should also be working to promote women’s rights, reduce poverty and tackle organised crime as a whole. There is no way that we can end sex trafficking if women and girls remain vulnerable and organised crime is allowed to thrive. Finally, sex trafficking survivors must be given proper support through their recovery and the right to remain in the country they were trafficked to, if they so wish. This right is protected under the Palermo Protocol but there are cases of sex trafficking survivors being sent back to their home countries where they are re-trafficked.

If Europe really wants to be an advocate for women’s rights these are the measures we must take to secure the dignity, liberty and wellbeing of every woman and girl vulnerable to sex trafficking and of every survivor.

Hannah Bondi

Hannah Bondi is a British-Maltese Philosophy graduate from the United Kingdom planning to pursue a Masters in Social and Public Policy. She is currently interning with the European Network of Migrant Women, having previously interned with Women for Refugee Women.

Harvard University Press Advertisement

Social Europe Ad - Promoting European social policies

We need your help.

Support Social Europe for less than €5 per month and help keep our content freely accessible to everyone. Your support empowers independent publishing and drives the conversations that matter. Thank you very much!

Social Europe Membership

Click here to become a member

Most Recent Articles

u421983467f bb39 37d5862ca0d5 0 Ending Britain’s “Brief Encounter” with BrexitStefan Stern
u421983485 2 The Future of American Soft PowerJoseph S. Nye
u4219834676d582029 038f 486a 8c2b fe32db91c9b0 2 Trump Can’t Kill the Boom: Why the US Economy Will Roar Despite HimNouriel Roubini
u42198346fb0de2b847 0 How the Billionaire Boom Is Fueling Inequality—and Threatening DemocracyFernanda Balata and Sebastian Mang
u421983441e313714135 0 Why Europe Needs Its Own AI InfrastructureDiane Coyle

Most Popular Articles

startupsgovernment e1744799195663 Governments Are Not StartupsMariana Mazzucato
u421986cbef 2549 4e0c b6c4 b5bb01362b52 0 American SuicideJoschka Fischer
u42198346769d6584 1580 41fe 8c7d 3b9398aa5ec5 1 Why Trump Keeps Winning: The Truth No One AdmitsBo Rothstein
u421983467 a350a084 b098 4970 9834 739dc11b73a5 1 America Is About to Become the Next BrexitJ Bradford DeLong
u4219834676ba1b3a2 b4e1 4c79 960b 6770c60533fa 1 The End of the ‘West’ and Europe’s FutureGuillaume Duval
u421983462e c2ec 4dd2 90a4 b9cfb6856465 1 The Transatlantic Alliance Is Dying—What Comes Next for Europe?Frank Hoffer
u421983467 2a24 4c75 9482 03c99ea44770 3 Trump’s Trade War Tears North America Apart – Could Canada and Mexico Turn to Europe?Malcolm Fairbrother
u4219834676e2a479 85e9 435a bf3f 59c90bfe6225 3 Why Good Business Leaders Tune Out the Trump Noise and Stay FocusedStefan Stern
u42198346 4ba7 b898 27a9d72779f7 1 Confronting the Pandemic’s Toxic Political LegacyJan-Werner Müller
u4219834676574c9 df78 4d38 939b 929d7aea0c20 2 The End of Progess? The Dire Consequences of Trump’s ReturnJoseph Stiglitz

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
How are minimum wage levels changing in Europe?

In a new Eurofound Talks podcast episode, host Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound expert Carlos Vacas Soriano about recent changes to minimum wages in Europe and their implications.

Listeners can delve into the intricacies of Europe's minimum wage dynamics and the driving factors behind these shifts. The conversation also highlights the broader effects of minimum wage changes on income inequality and gender equality.

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!


Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.


READ THE MAGAZINE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

KU Leuven advertisement

The Politics of Unpaid Work

This new book published by Oxford University Press presents the findings of the multiannual ERC research project “Researching Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Work Continuum”,
led by Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven), which are very important for the prospects of a more equal Europe.

Unpaid labour is no longer limited to the home or volunteer work. It infiltrates paid jobs, eroding rights and deepening inequality. From freelancers’ extra hours to care workers’ unpaid duties, it sustains precarity and fuels inequity. This book exposes the hidden forces behind unpaid labour and calls for systemic change to confront this pressing issue.

DOWNLOAD HERE FOR FREE

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

What kind of impact is artificial intelligence (AI) having, or likely to have, on the way we work and the conditions we work under? Discover the latest issue of HesaMag, the ETUI’s health and safety magazine, which considers this question from many angles.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641