INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY UNITES TO SUPPORT EFFORTS TO COMBAT SEX TRAFFICKING IN NIGERIA WITH THE SCREENING OF OLOTURE IN ABUJA AND BENIN CITY
WHAT: The Gloria Steinem Equality Fund to End Sex Trafficking and its local partner Associazione Iroko Onlus invite you to a press conference on sex trafficking prior to the screening of Nigerian film Òlòturé directed by Kenneth Gyang and produced by EbonyLife Films. The film will be followed by a high-level panel discussion on sex trafficking and a reception. This event has been jointly supported by the Embassies of Argentina, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United States as well as FIIAPP and UN Women.
Those of us who work or have worked in the third sector, among victims of violence and their oppressors, will understand the highs and lows that come with the experience. When we come into daily contact with the injustices our society continues to permit – all too often disproportionately against women – the lows are inevitable.That is why we have to embrace the highs! For our colleague, Ruby, the opportunity to attend the Brussels’ Call Conference on 16th October was one such occasion. There is something extremely moving and powerful about being in a room full of feminists and abolitionists, about being surrounded by successful, determined and compassionate women, of all ages and from all walks of life.
The conference, part of the Brussels’ Call campaign for a Europe free from prostitution, was held at the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the EP’s ‘Resolution on sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality’(also known as the Honeyball resolution), which represented a turning point in the fight against the sex industry and its inherent violence. This resolution was the recognition that prostitution is a form of violence against women and called for measures to end the demand for sexual exploitation. The conference explored the reality of prostitution across Europe and included contributions from some of those most directly affected and those still fighting for change.
CAP International held their third world congress in April this year in Mainz, Germany, with the title Prostitution: Neither Sex Nor Work. The event was hosted by SOLWODI, a German member organisation, Armut und Gesundheit e.V., and organised with the support and participation of the whole abolitionist movement in Germany.
The Congress was opened by a Survivors’ Day on the 2nd of April, where an extraordinary group of prostitution survivors from Germany and all over the world called on German’s authorities to fully revisit their harmful public policies on prostitution. The international public conference followed, on the 3rd and 4th, with over 300 participants and 40 speakers from 30 countries. Iroko’s Executive Director, Esohe Aghatise, was among them, standing alongside the most important figures in this movement, survivors. The conference addressed the realities of prostitution and sexual exploitation in the world, their severe impact on health, and their consequences on sexual violence and gender inequalities. The event being hosted in Germany was also a key feature, which highlighted the extremely preoccupying situation in a country that has come to be known as the “brothel of Europe”.
Watch the video below to see some highlights from the event or listen to this podcast by Vancouver Rape Relief’s, recorded at the congress. In this episode, VRR asked women from different abolitionist groups, including Esohe Aghatise, to dispel prostitution myths.
In early February Iroko’s Executive Director, Esohe Aghatise, and two members of the team went to Madrid to attend CATW and the Commission for the Investigation of Harms Against Women’s (Comisión Para La Investigación De Malos Tratos A Mujeres, CIMTM) global conference entitled Centering Women and Girls in Ending Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation: The Architecture of the 5.2 Global Partnership. Not only did the conference give invaluable insights into the challenges facing this movement to end trafficking and sexual exploitation and some of the tools and projects in place to tackle them, but it provided an opportunity to come together with an inspiring group of women and men who work every day to protect the rights of women and girls around the world.
The conference consisted of 8 panels of experts, journalists, survivors, activists and many more, across two days, including speakers from all over the world. Among them were CATW’s Board of Directors, who began the conference talking about the successes and challenges they’ve seen over the organisation’s 30 years. Aurora Javate-de Dios highlighted the hypocrisy that many self-proclaimed feminist organisations demonstrate today, citing the example of the scandal surrounding Oxfam staff in Haiti in 2010, where representatives of a global organisation promoting human rights and equality were supporting earthquake victims one day and buying women’s bodies for sexual services the next. Janice Raymond recognised the huge contribution and strength that survivors have brought to this movement over the years. Ruchira Gupta brought forward a theme that continued throughout the conference: the question of language and the powerful role it plays. When asked what she would change given a magic wand, she proposed the removal of the concept of ‘consensual sex’ from our collective vocabulary, and its replacement with ‘welcome sex’.Read More
In the last twenty to thirty years, the trafficking of young women and children from poor countries to Europe for sexual exploitation has greatly changed the face of prostitution in Europe.
The response of European governments to this presence and to the problem has thus generally been to legalise and introduce state regulation of prostitution.
At national and international forums, prostitution and trafficking have generated discussion and raised different complex issues at various levels, due to the large presence of these young women and children from poor countries, who are forced/induced into prostitution in the West.
As one of the countries at the forefront of the problem of sex trafficking and prostitution, due to the huge influx of trafficking victims into its territory, the Italian Government is searching for an adequate and effective response to these problems. Read More
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