Legislation, rights protection and assistance
CONTENTS, FOREWORD
Contents
Foreword
Anna Betlen: Lack of information - inadequate legal framework - persons in need unassisted (The situation of prostitution and human trafficking in Hungary)
Andrea Matolcsi: The project's aims, activities and achievements (overview)
Annexes
Annex 1: The European Model Protocol of cooperation between law enforcement and civil society organizations in cases of sexual exploitation
Annex 2: OSCE/ODIHR: National Referral Mechanisms - Joining Efforts to Protect the Rights of Trafficked Persons, A Practical Handbook (exerpts)
Annex 3: United Kingdom Home Office's Crime Reduction Toolkit: Trafficking in People (excerpt)
Annex 4: European Women's Lobby/Nordic Baltic Network: Assistance to women victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation in the Nordic and Baltic countries - A comparison of legislation
Annex 5: Myths and misconceptions about prostitution
Annex 6: Trafficking and prostitution. Quiz and solutions
Annex 7: Budapest visit of a Dutch social worker who works with prostitutes - flyer
Annex 8: Organizations and institutions that participated in the professional forums held in April, May and November, 2009
Annex 9: Organizations and institutions that participated in the project's international conference held on March 9, 2010
Photos
Foreword
With regard to prostitution and human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, dominant views held by society about the phenomena and the legal regulations and sanctions to which they are subject vary in each European country as well as across the world. However, with the accession of Eastern-European countries to the European Union, and the region's consequent enclosure within Schengen borders, these differences have been superseded by the emergence of a unique phenomenon: traffickers are bringing more and more women from Eastern-Europe (including from Hungary), who can be pimped cheaply, to Western- European sites of prostitution - regardless of whether prostitution is legal or illegal in the given country - in order to prostitute them under illegal conditions. The significance of the problem is demonstrated by the fact that, recently, police headquarters in several Western-European cities - e.g. Amsterdam and Zurich - have employed Hungarianspeaking staff in response to the large number of Hungarian victims who do not speak any foreign languages. Furthermore, human trafficking and sexual exploitation are occurring to a great extent within Hungary's borders as well. These phenomena shed light on the real nature and purpose of prostitution: prostitution (and human trafficking, which is inseparable from it) is a form of violence against women: it serves, on the one hand, the fulfillment of sex-buyers' demands, and on the other hand, the quick prosperity of a small group of people - the traffickers and the pimps.
International statistical data and observations within Hungary testify that the overwhelming majority of prostitutes by no means choose this activity voluntarily, but rather become involved in it - often as minors - as a result of threats, coercion and violence - violence which then follows them throughout their time spent in prostitution as well. Prostitution, through its effects, contributes to the maintenance of gender inequalities, i.e. the socially superior position of men and the subordinate position of women; prostitution - both at the individual and the societal level - is primarily about power, and not sexuality. It has grave and complex negative effects on those who are forced into it: social exclusion and the psychological and physical traumas that result from violence which often have negative impacts throughout several generations. At the same time, it also has serious and hard to deal with detrimental effects on those women and children (and of course men) who may not have anything to do with prostitution; this is because the system of prostitution and human trafficking treats women and children as consumable objects that can be bought, sold and circulated, thus undermining the principle of equal dignity for all human beings. From a human rights perspective, it is clear that prostitution is a grave form of physical, psychological and material exploitation of women and children, and an abuse of the vulnerability of those in a difficult situation.
Since 1992, MONA Foundation for the Women of Hungary has been engaged - through research, publications and conferences - in promoting possible methods for achieving social equality between women and men, as well as the already attained aspects thereof, and the organization has at the same time has also been dealing with those phenomena in which gender inequalities are significantly manifested. It is our conviction that one of the greatest hindrances for the attainment of gender equality is the socially embedded nature of different forms of violence against women - including prostitution -, the impunity of the perpetrators, and the lack of recognition and protection of the human rights of women who have suffered violence. We decided to address the specific topic of prostitution because we intended to present - in contrast to the dominant arguments and explanations regarding prostitution, which are highly tolerant of it and reproduce over and over again the myth of its voluntary nature - a system of argumentation that places women's human rights at the center, and to reinforce this within the public, political and professional discourses.
The project presented in this publication is based partly on research carried out by MONA Foundation in 2007, and aimed to remedy the legal and institutional deficiencies in the fight against prostitution, based on a human rights approach and taking gender issues into consideration. Starting in October 2008, MONA implemented the 18-month project, entitled "Development of inter-disciplinary cooperation in Hungary to support the fight against trafficking in women and prostitution", with the support of the EEA/Norwegian Financial Mechanism, under the supervision of the national implementing organizations DemNet Hungary and the Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation, and in partnership with the experts of NANE Women's Rights association, PATENT Association and the Tatabánya-based USZSE Association of Street Social Helpers, whom we would like to hereby thank for theirindispensable cooperation. The project aimed to contribute to the creation of an efficient and coherent legal framework to promote the reduction of prostitution and human trafficking; it also sought to lay the foundations of a multi-layered institutional network based on interdisciplinary cooperation that can provide services for victims, ranging from prevention to long-term assistance services.
We do not regard our work as being by any means finished, but we hope that through our project and the present publication we have taken a step towards the establishment of wide-ranging and efficient nation-wide interdisciplinary cooperation, the improvement of the situation of victims, and the creation of a more adequate legal framework.
Sincerely,
The staff of MONA Foundation