Good afternoon.
There is a close connection between prostitution and slavery. Slave women are the first ones exploited in brothels, followed by women from the poorer classes. According to the UN, more people are bought, sold and transported for sexual exploitation or other purposes today than during the 300 years of slavery. Slavery, although abolished 150 years ago, is still practised in our modern societies. There were 11.5 million victims of the African slave trade, whereas there have been 33 million victims of trafficking for prostitution in Southeast Asia alone.
Trafficking has been carried on differently in recent years, in recruitment, transportation and accommodation, in order to exploit women and children, who constitute the majority of its victims. There were nearly 5 million victims of sexual exploitation between 2002 and 2011. Annual profits generated by the exploitation of trafficking victims are estimated at more than $30 billion. In many places, trafficking governs the “economic health” of the sex industries, which includes pornography, prostitution, sexual tourism and, as mentioned earlier, erotic massage.
There are far more human victims of trafficking for prostitution purposes than there are of trafficking for domestic exploitation purposes or to provide cheap labour. Between 70% and 80% of prostitutes in Canada started working as prostitutes when they were children. There were an estimated 10,000 child prostitutes in Canada in 1997. The mortality rate of women and young girls involved in prostitution in Canada is 40 times higher than the national average. Women prostitutes represent 15% of suicides reported by American hospitals, and the figures are similar for France.
Prostitution is a form of violence in itself. The first act of violence is to subject prostitutes to the sexual pleasure of their customers. The second violent fact is that 90% of individuals become prostitutes as a result of sexual, physical and psychological violence. Kidnapping, rape, slaughter—there are slaughter camps in several European countries where human beings are sold—terror and murder are part of the process of “manufacturing the goods”. These are ways used to render prostituted individuals “functional”.
In the 10 years from 1990 to 2000, 77,500 young foreign women were the victims of traffickers. From 1999 to 2010, 200,000 young foreign women suffered the same treatment. It is often minors who are sold. They have tens and tens of contacts per day. Trafficking and prostitution have risen sharply over the past decade.
The procurers, or pimps, make an enormous amount of money at their victims' expense. They come in various forms: a spouse, someone who places newspaper ads or travel advertisements, a person who says he is your friend, but who is not, or someone in whom you have placed all your trust. Prostitution is not an occupation one chooses freely: it is a system of sexual exploitation. Prostituting oneself means losing one's personality, one's identity, but especially one's dignity.
Legalizing prostitution does not protect women any more than it does children. On the contrary, creating brothels makes them prisoners of the violence of their procurers and customers. Customers are convinced that they can do anything, that they have every right because they pay. In prostitution, the exchange of money does not reduce the level of violence and does not prove that the victims are consenting. On the contrary, it is proof of the rapists' premeditation and of the procurers' profit.
There are no customers, but rather male prostitution users who buy impunity from rape. There are no women, men or children leasing or selling sexual services: there are only victims of sexual violence who, at some point, are forced or compelled to be raped by strangers.
For many, prostitution is a necessary evil, an evil for the woman, but necessary for many men in satisfying their sexual needs. Some people even believe that prostitution can help prevent rape. The Conseil du statut de la femme believes that it is not the best way to calm men's sexual impulses.
Abolishing all forms of prostitution means attacking the rapists' impunity and starting to acknowledge that women and children are full-fledged human beings whose physical integrity may not be violated.
Abolishing the prostitution system is the only solution for living in a humane society. Prostitution has been regulated in the Netherlands since October 1, 2000. That legislation is simply a failure since only 4% of prostitutes are registered. This was supposed to put an end to the prostitution of minors. The Organization for Children's Rights estimates that the number of child prostitutes in the Netherlands rose from 4,000 in 1996 to 15,000 in 2001, including at least 5,000 of foreign origin.
As the Dutch, Greek and Austrian experience has shown, the number of legal prostitutes originally from those countries is gradually declining and the number of prostitutes who are clandestine, illegal or victims of trafficking is on the rise. Legalizing prostitution thus has not improved the lot of prostitutes.
The prostitution of children has risen significantly since legalization. The number of illegal brothels now exceeds the number of legal ones. The illegal industry is now out of control, and trafficking in women and children from other countries has risen sharply. The consequence of legalizing prostitution in certain regions of Australia has been clear growth in the industry.
In 1984, Afeas wanted all prostitution rings to be dismantled and called for severe penalties be imposed on individuals living from the avails of prostitution. At their most recent annual provincial conference last August, Afeas members adopted several positions on prostitution. For example, the association called for the passage of legislation prohibiting prostitution, the criminalization of prostitution customers, social policies to assist individuals wishing to leave the industry and sex education programs in the schools promoting healthy, equal sexuality.
Afeas, which represents 10,000 Quebec women, supports Bill C-452. That bill is entirely consistent with the positions the association adopted at its last conference. It was drafted based on numerous consultations, particularly with officers of the Montreal Police Service's morality section and sexual exploitation of children unit, the Barreau du Québec and women's and victims' rights advocacy groups.
Measures must be taken to facilitate the arrest of procurers and customers. Human trafficking generates more money than drugs. As Ms. Dufour said earlier, there are no resources to assist victims, to accommodate them or to help improve their situation.
Thank you.
