Women and Gender Studies

Some comments on the report are needed at this point:

Quote (p.12): "Evidence suggests that a minority of sex workers in London are trafficked (though the exact percentage is not known)*. Research suggests that there is a great variety of migration and work trajectories within theUKsex industry, meaning that the degree of exploitation or coercion that a sex worker experiences varies greatly. The Project Acumen report, which sought to understand the scale and nature of trafficking inEnglandandWales, found that of an estimated 30,000 women involved in prostitution, 17,000 were migrants. Of these migrant sex workers, 2,600 were identified as trafficked. A further 9,600 were identified as vulnerable e.g. financially. The remaining 5,500 did not meet the ‘trafficked’ or ‘vulnerable’ thresholds. The report found that in London 96.4% of sex workers were migrants"

 I am wondering to what extent the definition of trafficking stated in the Palermo Protocol is clearly understood, since it includes, apart from the use of force or other forms of coercion, "the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation" (including the exploitation in prostitution, obviously).

*The asseveration that "evidence suggests that a minority of sex workers in London are trafficked" is based on the report "Migrant Workers in the UK Sex Industry" (Mai N -2009). According to that report, the statement seems to be based on the own perception of the "sex workers" (or prostituted persons), and thus subjective, given the strategies neglecting experiences of exploitation that prostituted people often present; and though not based on the objective facts in line with the UN definition of trafficking.

And this is really worrying! Since it means minimizing the magnitude of a huge issue of slavery and violation of human rights actually present in theUK and in the rest of the EU. It is clear that more training is needed on this topic, and maybe even also a clearer explanation of what trafficking really is.