La Strada Documentation Center

Violation of Women’s Rights. A Cause and Consequence of Trafficking in Women

Document number
1431
Date
2008
Title
Violation of Women’s Rights. A Cause and Consequence of Trafficking in Women
Author/publisher
Bregje Blokhuis, La Strada International
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Prevention, Awareness Raising, Media, Information Campaigns, Empowerment, Advocacy, Civil society, NGO, Human Rights approach, Activism, Education, Training; Women's rights; Women; Control and regulation of prostitution, Protection, Punishable forms of prostitution,
Summary
On 8 March 2008, International Women’s Day, La Strada International presented its report titled: “Violation of women’s rights: a cause and consequence of trafficking in women” in Amsterdam. This report analyses the violation of women’s rights as both a cause and a consequence of trafficking in women. Although trafficking affects both men and women, it is not a gender-neutral phenomenon, as women are particularly vulnerable to trafficking due to their social and economic position, as well as their position in the migration process. On the basis of the findings presented in this report, La Strada calls on governments to end this vicious circle and take women’s rights seriously. As gender inequality is one of the main factors contributing to trafficking, La Strada urges governments to respect, protect and promote human rights and especially the human rights of women, irrespective of their legal status, in order to prevent and combat trafficking effectively. As human rights violations are also a consequence of trafficking and can seriously infringe upon the rights of others, La Strada urges all governments to place human rights at the core of all policies and specifically anti-trafficking measures. The report further provides practical recommendations for governments to address women’s rights in order to prevent further human rights abuses such as trafficking from occurring. As Helga Konrad, the former OSCE Representative on Trafficking in Human Beings stated in the foreword, this report “is an important first step in analysing the link between trafficking in women and the violation of women’s rights, which calls for international discussion and further research. Improving and promoting women’s rights will not lead to instant successes, but it is the only way to create a sustainable and long-lasting new equilibrium in world society in which women are free from violence, exploitation and abuse and empowered to determine their own futures."
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