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Strategic objective D.3.
Eliminate trafficking in women and assist victims of violence due to prostitution and trafficking
Actions to be taken
130. By Governments of countries of origin, transit and destination, regional and international organizations, as appropriate:
e. Develop educational and training programmes and policies and consider enacting legislation aimed at preventing sex tourism and trafficking, giving special emphasis to the protection of young women and children.
Beijing Declaration (1995)
Among the more pervasive and historically prevalent forms of violence against women is in the act of trafficking, the ways in which can be objectified in ultra-conservative or ultra-permissible societies reflect other facets of our societies.
The ways in which women can live, essentially, slave lives while trafficked. It comes from a larger qualitative analysis of the complete covering of women based on the demands of the patriarchal structures and culture, or become in many ways coerced into the opposite based on other cultures.
In either case, the pressures on women to perform and behave, and dress, in specific ways becomes immense, far more than the men. Regardless, the elimination of trafficking in women and the assistance of the victims of victims due to prostitution and trafficking is of utmost importance.
When we look into the actions rather than simply the talk around the international issue and human rights violation of trafficking and prostitution, the development of “educational and training programmes” becomes a central piece of the arsenal in combatting trafficking of girls and women.
The world of politics and policymaking cannot be ignored, as the governments require enforcement of the policies and the legislation if passed.
When targeted at sex tourism and trafficking, in particular, there should be protections, as mentioned in the previous articles around the ways women and girls can undergo trauma and will require protection, e.g., the aforementioned privacy in healthcare can be one means by which to do it.
At the same time, we come into the situation requiring the top-down and bottom-up problem-solving methodology known as activism. If we look at the grassroots movements, there needs to be a sacrifice, a willingness to work across ideological lines, and form coalitions targeting specific and concrete aspects of the problem: of sexual trafficking and prostitution.
This, among many international issues, is not a complicated issue. The facts remain in front of us; the right violations should remain apparent to most with a conscience, and the next question becomes the best means to reach the solutions.
In the grassroots activism, this can be the basis, and has been, for the influence on the public for pressuring those in power, or those with the political and policymaking power to implement change on the books with further pressure for enacting said changes.
From the top-down, of course, it can come from the government itself; probably, the more reliable alternative is the international and regional institutions and organizations, including the UN, to pressure the governments of a region or the world to recognize and acknowledge a problem and then begin to act on it.
Within this, there can be work for the rights of women and girls, and some boys and men, in these arenas. Even in my own country, trafficking and sex trafficking can be an issue. Something that creates horrible sub-cultures of abuse and slavery for the women and the girls who happen to be caught in them.
The cultural shrug, in some regards, may reflect the larger international need to recognize this massive problem inflicted on millions.
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- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Preamble, Article 16, and Article 25(2).
- Convention Against Discrimination in Education (1960) in Article 1.
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) in Article 3, Article 7, and Article 13.
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966).
- Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979).
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984).
- The Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the optional protocol (1993).
- Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), Five-year review of progress (2000), 10-year review in 2005, the 15-year review in 2010, and the 20-year review in 2015.
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), and the UN Security Council additional resolutions on women, peace and security: 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), and 2242 (2015).
- Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2000).
- The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa or the “Maputo Protocol” (2003).
- Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence or the Istanbul Convention (2011) Article 38 and Article 39.
- UN Women’s strategic plan, 2018–2021
- 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
- 2015 agenda with 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (169 targets for the end to poverty, combatting inequalities, and so on, by 2030). The SDGs were preceded by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) from 2000 to 2015.
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