On June 16th, 2021, at the occasion of the Side event of the 21st OSCE Conference of the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons organised by La Strada International on 'The impact of criminalizing the knowingly use of services which are the object of exploitation on trafficked persons and related vulnerable groups', ICRSE published this Briefing to present how tackling trafficking under the decriminalisation model looks like. The Briefing was developed by Emily Kenway in collaboration with Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement, Decrim Now and ICRSE.
This briefing explores the ways in which decriminalisation of sex work can open new avenues for prevention of human trafficking, identification of victims and their support thereafter, in line with best practice on tackling trafficking. Those who advocate for the decriminalisation of sex work do so on the basis that such a model will support sex workers to have better rights, protections and conditions, whilst harms such as rape, assault, trafficking and child sexual abuse remain criminalised in their sector, as in other legal labour sectors. However, to date there has been limited attention paid to the potential for a decriminalisation model to provide new and valuable tools for prevention of human trafficking into and within the commercial sex sector.
To access the briefing paper, click HERE
