by Nelleke van der Vleuten

What have politics contributed to the suppression of traffic in women?

Policies on traffic in women: Policy framework

Traffic in women has always been looked upon in various ways all through history. Attitudes changed and so did the regulations. To delineate policies on traffic in women it is necessary to understand the views behind these policies. Their interdependence with other disciplines, more particularly the specific areas of prostitution, migration and aliens must be studied against the background of moral and political concepts on sexuality, relations between the sexes and the position of women in society.

Policies on traffic in women and prostitution

Governments have always tried to steer prostitution into a socially acceptable direction. It depends on the predominant system of values in society whether it is more or less an accepted phenomenon, otherwise efforts will be made to abolish it. We will briefly discuss the different ways of dealing with prostitution and as far as possible the consequences for the victims of traffic in women. It is of course a summary sketch; in reality many mixed forms, deviations or overlappings occur.

 
Prohibitionism

Prohibitionism, i.e. legal prohibition of prostitution still exists in several countries. This means that prostitution is officially non-existent for the authorities in the United States, in communist countries, the Philippines or Thailand, to name but a few countries. Prohibition implies that anybody involved in prostitution may be accused of illegal activities. Because of the double moral standard, in fact it boils down to penalising the prostitutes, not the clients, with the death-penalty even, as is the case in Iran. Pakistan also considered the idea of capital punishment on the basis of proposals made by a State Commission (Heyzer 1986:65). As a consequence (of prohibitionism) many countries, e.g. the United States, shut their eyes to the reality of prostitution in society. (Former) communist countries even denied the existence of it.

Illegality renders prostitutes completely dependent on third parties: procurers, police-officers, court officials. Corruption, abuse and blackmail are normal everyday occurrences (for the United
States viz: Delacoste and Alexander 1988; for Thailand viz: Hantrakul 1983; Roerink and van der VIeuten 1988). Especially in traffic in women and forced prostitution women are completely outlawed and at the mercy of pimps, brothel-keepers, etc. This illegality and the resulting criminal aspects makes it impossible for the women to defend themselves. Legal prohibition and criminalization of prostitutes can never be effective. Bullough and Bullough, researchers in the field of the social history of prostitution claim:

"Such a policy would be doomed to failure (..) it would not only go contrary to all historical insights but would violate privacy (...) ignore the economic and social realities of everyday living and could be possible only in the kind of absolute police states imagined by George Orwell in 1984."

They believe that without changes in attitude on sexuality, the position of women and the double moral standard, prostitution will always exist (Bullough and Bullough 1987: 317, 320).

 
Regulation

In the prevailing regulatory system the existence of prostitution is officially recognised. Till the end of the 19th century this system predominated in the majority of Western European countries (For historical survey viz. Altink 1983; Bullough and Bullough 1987). This system still exists in many countries.

This recognition of the existence of prostitution was based on the prevailing concept of men's natural sexual needs; to control this was of great importance to public health. To maintain peace and morality the authorities believed they had the task of channeling this "public vice" in the direction desired. So they checked prostitutes for venereal disease and registered them in police-files. The assumption was that only they and not the clients or other parties transmitted venereal diseases. Prostitutes and brothel-keepers also had to pay taxes.

In several countries nowadays brothels may still be state property or are actively supported and inspected by the authorities. The Eros-centers in Germany are an example of this. Prostitutes must register and medical checkups are compulsory. In other countries prostitutes are only tolerated in certain districts or streets. Regulation usually only mentions the prostitutes, the clients are generally ignored, the double moral standard also playing its part here.

In the literature several negative effects of this regulatory system are indicated. Control and treatment of venereal disease was insufficient up to the 20th century because of unhygienic conditions. Compulsory registration was often a part of this control and the women often preferred to hide. The physicians could not offer them any effective remedy against the diseases anyway. The unhygienic working habits of the physicians themselves were also a risk to public health. In fact this system only creates an apparent security. It is quite ineffective and stigmatizes the prostitutes if only applied to them. Maintaining law and order only signifies that the visible forms of prostitutions, usually street prostitutions, are dealt with. These measures have a strong "class bias" because often the poorer women work on the streets. Criminal activities, drugs and traffic in women, which take place "silently" in expensive brothels, usually receive less attention.

Prostitutes are isolated  socially and economically by forced registration. "It makes prostitution a career choice for many who might otherwise have been involved only temporarily." (Bullough and Bullough 1987:319). If women must register while the fact of being a prostitute is morally not accepted, they are branded for life and stigmatized. The prevailing regulatory system also creates a difference between legal and illegal prostitution. Women who cannot or do not want to register, for instance (trafficked) women without a residence permit, end up in an illegal circuit with all the negative consequences this entails. Per definition, bad health and labor conditions, coercion and exploitation prevail,

Ohse indicates that regulation may even be the major cause for traffic in women and forced prostitution. In her study on the situation in Germany she concludes:

"a reduction of the exploitation of prostitution and traffic in persons can only be successful where prostitutes do not need the protection of pimps.This however, can never be the case in a system of regulation." (Ohse 1984:43

 
Abolitionism

At the end of the last century the members of the abolitionist movement in Europe and the United States were the first to consider prostitution and traffic in women as a political and an ethical problem.The British Josephine Butler acquired international renown in this movement.

The abolitionists criticised the then existing system of regulating prostitution and wanted to end interference by the authorities. Originally the term abolitionism meant the elimination {"abolire") of rules and laws on prostitution. The transaction between the prostitute and the client was not an issue for the authorities, but any other involvement by others, i.e. procurers, brothel-keepers, government or whomever, should be prohibited. They used moral and practical arguments. The reform movement believed that control over venereal disease and "lawful fornication" should not be dealt with by the authorities. The abolitionists thought prostitution a moral evil and an undermining of the family: involvement of the authorities would encourage moral decay. The abolitionists rightly criticised the inadequate control over venereal disease, which was medically inadequate and contributed to the legal inequality between men and women because of the double moral standard. To eliminate the double moral standard, which caused the victimisation of prostitutes, as they believed, they pleaded in favor of complete chastity (Visser). They alleged that sexual abstinence was very well feasible for men.

The abolitionists (decried) the abominable labor and health conditions in 19th century prostitution, which they said, were akin to slavery. So the term "white slaves" was coined. They were right in the sense that factually regulation meant that exploitation of the women was tolerated by the authorities because they profited financially from the existing system.

As a long term goal the abolitionists wanted to abolish prostitution, but this was not their main concern in the first instance. From a middle-class, moral ethical perspective the struggle by Butler, (et.al.) was directed specifically against the hypocrisy of the authorities, the appalling socioeconomic conditions and the traffic in women. The women in the movement struggled with great intensity against the double moral standard (viz. also Bullough and Bullough 1987).

Later on the abolitionist movement became more and more convinced that not only regulation, but prostitution as a whole had to disappear and this finally changed them into a prohibitionist movement. To demonstrate this, the name of the three-yearly conference of the still active International Abolitionist Movement, the FAI, held in Stuttgart in 1987, was "Prostitution. A global problem. A threat for mankind." (Pheterson, ed. 1989).

No country has a pure abolitionist prostitution policy, in the sense of 'no regulation at all for prostitution'. In countries where abolitionism is an official policy, i.e. in France and till recently in the Netherlands, registration usually exists and prostitutes and brothel-keepers have to pay taxes (viz. also Fernand-Laurent 1983). These countries have certain basic abolitionist assumptions, i.e. prostitution is not an offense, but soliciting and procuring may be. This is the case in the United Kingdom. In other countries, i.e. the Netherlands, prostitution is tolerated by the authorities, but there is no legal security for the prostitutes. The United Nations also maintain an abolitionist view. Abolitionism does not end prostitution.

"A commitment everywhere to suppress prostitution, a moral campaign against it, and a policy of arresting not only the prostitute but also the customer are required. The history of prostitution abundantly demonstrates the futility of such an approach." (MacNamara and Sagarin 1977:126).

Abolitionism gives no guarantee either that traffic in women or other abuses will be dealt with. On the contrary. Prostitutes become more dependent and can more easily be taken advantage of. The paradoxical situation exists that women are allowed to be prostitutes but that working as a prostitute is prohibited, because a third party is nearly always involved. In the given legal situation, this third party generally operates within an illegal circuit, which attracts criminal elements. To get organized and arrange advocacy are practically impossible, partly because prostitutes in the eyes of the abolitionists are passive victims who must be "rescued" (viz. Du Bois and Gordon 1983).

These concepts leave no room for reality, i.e. that prostitution may be a survival strategy as well. By defining prostitutes and trafficked women solely as victims, they are also stigmatized. Trafficked women are victims of serious crimes in criminal law, but this does not automatically mean that they always work in prostitution against their own free will. Trafficked women are not passive either. They will try to hold their own and resist. For trafficked women, for whom prostitution abroad is a survival strategy, this is even more true.

The data do not prove that coercion and traffic in women are an intrinsic part of prostitution. But in the literature we find that the existence of violence and exploitation in prostitution are partly the result of stigmatization and criminalization by society.

Decriminalization

A final instrument of (possible) regulation is decriminalization. According to this view, the rightless situation of prostitutes, which criminalizes them, must be abolished. Coercion and exploitation of prostitutes must be opposed and registration by the police, if it still exists, done away with. A moral judgement on prostitution as such is not the main issue. Protagonists of decriminalization do not believe that chastity is the solution for the double moral standard.

"Trafficked women are not passive either. They will try to hold their own and resist. For trafficked women, for whom prostitution abroad is a survival strategy, this is even more true." .

At first the struggle against lack of legal security and in favor of decriminalization of prostitutes was supported by the abolitionists. Modern reformers, pressure groups of prostitutes and other women's groups however believe that the struggle against coercion and exploitation in prostitution cannot be won without recognizing the existence of prostitution as such - it can be classified as labor in any event - and of the rights of prostitutes, one of these being the right to work as a prostitute.The protagonists of decriminalization have different views on prostitution in the long term. Some see the labor regulations approach as a desirable short term strategy. It is the only way to improve the lot of prostitutes, often the most marginalized and criminalized women in society, as well as that of the victims of traffic in women. Others strive for recognition of prostitution on a long term basis. They believe prostitution should be a profession like any other: the rendering of sexual services, a profession a woman may choose which has normal labor conditions. Many have views somewhere in between these two extremes. To initiate a policy against criminalization, a distinction must be made between free choice and coercion, incitement or procuring. Policies against traffic in women could be integrated. Alexander (1988) says real decriminalization can only be implemented if procuring, the so called third party, is also subject to normal procedures of labor regulations. This would imply that procuring is possible without coercion, exploitation or abuse.

Different models may be applied by the authorities within such a policy (viz. Skolnick and Dombrink 1978). In the Netherlands at this point in time the transition is being made from an abolitionist policy to a policy based i.e. on licenses for brothel keepers, linked to guarantees on working conditions and legal protection of prostitutes. The question is how to effect this. As far as we know the Netherlands are the only country in the world where decriminalization is accepted as a starting point for a prostitution policy. (The state of New South Wales in Australia seems to have a similar policy. Viz. Pheterson, ed. 1989).

Conclusions

The historians Bullough and Bullough (1987), the publicist Alexander (1987) and the criminologists MacNamara and Sagarin (1977) have studied the different concepts and policies on prostitution. All of them believe that decriminalization and the subjection of prostitution to normal labor regulations are the only realistic approach for the authorities for both prostitution and traffic in women. This is also the only way in which the rights of the women involved may be guaranteed. There must of course be a coherent system of legislation to prevent forced prostitution and traffic in women (see also Visser 1988). There is much discussion in the Netherlands on how to effect this.

 

References:

Alexander, Priscilla 1988 'Prostitution: A Difficult issue for Feminists', in: F. Delacoste & P. Alexander (eds.): Sex Work Writings of Women in the Sex Industry. London: Virago Press, pp. 184-215.

Altink, Sietske 1983 Huizen van lllusies. Bordeien en prostitutie van middeleewen tot haden. Utrecht: Veen

Ammelrooy, Anneke van 1989 Vrouwenhandel. De Internationale seksslavinnenmarkt. the Hague: BZZTOH.

Buijs, Heleen. Anniek Verbraken 1985 Vrouwenhandel. Onderzoel( naar aard, globaie omvang en de kanalen waarlangs vrouwendhandel naar Nederland plaatsvindt. The Hague: Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid.

Bullough, Vem, Bonnie Bulbugh 1987 Women and Prostitution. A Social History. Buffak), New York: Prometheus Books.

Delacoste, Frederkjue, Priscilla Alexander (eds.) 1988 Sex Work. Writings by Women in the Sex Industry. London: Virago Press.

Du Bois, Carol, Ellen Gordon 1983 'Seeking Ecstasy on the Battlefield: Danger and Pleasure in Nineteenth Century Feminist Thought'. In: Feminist Reviews, 13. pp. 42-54.

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Hantrakul, Sukanya 1983 Prostitution in Thailand. Paper proposed to the Women in Asia Workshop. Melbourne: Monash University. (Unpublished).

Heyzer, Noeleen 1986 Working women in Southeast Asia. Development, Subordination and Emancipation. Philadelphia. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

MacNamara, D.E.J. & E. Sagarin 1977 Sex, Crime and the Law. New York/London: Free Press

Ohse. Ulla 1984 Forced Prostitution and Traffic in Women in West Germany. Edinburgh: Human Rights Group.

Pheterson, Gail (ed.) 1989 Vindication of the Right of Whores (in press).

Pheterson, Gail 1989b 'Necessity of a good welcome to foreign women'. Unpublished lecture delivered at seminar on Traffic in women. Amsterdam: Royal Tropfcal Institute, The Netherlands. 15 April 1989.

Roerink, Alide, Nelleke van der VIeuten 1988 Handel in lllusies. Prostitutietoerisme in Thailand. Nijmegen: De Haktol

Skolnick, Jerome, John Dombrink 1978 'The Legalization of Deviance'. In: Criminology. Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 193-208.

Visser, Jan Undated 1988 Lezing voor de Vereniging tot studie van SOA. Rotterdam: Erasmus Universiteit. (Unpublished). 'Tussen zonde en werk. Prostitutiebeleid in Nederland'. In: Vrouwenhandel tussen migrant en handelswaar. Brochure published by the Socialistische fractie in het Europees Parlement. pp. 30-37.

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From: Vena Working Paper No. 91/1. pp. 17-27