A/HRC/56/48
unwanted contact or attempted contact, including online. Accusations of prostitution are also
levied against female politicians and human rights defenders as a form of persecution. 39
12.
Economic violence and marginalization includes receiving little or no payment,40
being exploited for long hours, extorsion,41 refusal of sexual act buyers to pay, robbery by
pimps, other third-party exploiters and sexual act buyers, forced payment of “interest” to
pimps, fines by the police, lifelong debt bondage42 and bribes to key players in the prostitution
system.43 Others include payment to pimps for rent, work or basic services. 44 Migrant women
are often in debt bondage even before entering prostitution owing to the expenses and broker
fees incurred for their journey, which is then used to coerce them to sell sexual acts. 45 Many
pay taxes through their pimps, which further controls and decreases their chances to exit.46
Exploitative practices within the prostitution system often impede victims’ access to
education, health care and other essential services, and deny them access to their most basic
rights, such as to food, water, sanitation, clothes, health services and medical care. Many
women and girls continue to be trapped in destitution and see their situation worsen, even
after they exit prostitution.47
13.
Victims also lose their right to privacy, freedom of movement and their right to family.
They are often socially isolated and cannot move freely, as pimps withhold identity
documents,48 constantly surveil them,49 and take decisions regarding their time, the
“service”50 and the “remuneration” to be provided. The control exercised by pimps frequently
obstructs victims’ right to privacy and their right to family. They are also often subjected to
arbitrary and prolonged detention, irregular migratory status, 51 expulsion and deportation.
Prostitution often results in serious psychological violence, such as memory loss, depression,
insomnia, eating disorders, substance abuse,52 identification with the aggressor, dissociation
and suicidality, which often lead to suicide.53 Frontline organizations explain that the
consequences of prostitution for mental health are similar to those of victims of torture. 54
According to a study conducted in nine countries, 68 per cent met the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder.55 Victims suffer from hypervigilance, anxiety, changed intimacy
and sexual pleasure, lack of confidence, and suicidal ideation.56 Prostitution also results in
other serious health-related consequences, such as declining life expectancy,57 exposure to
sexually transmitted diseases and HIV, and difficulties in access to treatment.58 Prostituted
women and girls can be coerced into abortions or sterilization and may suffer from forced
pregnancy.59 They may also suffer from pelvic floor degradation, urinary tract infection,
bladder inflammation, fecal incontinence, infertility, cervical cancer, oral illnesses, or sleep
disorders.
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41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
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59
Submission by Nazra for Feminist Studies.
Submission by Libertas International.
Submission by Kisumu Sex Worker Alliance.
Submission by Collective Shout Australia.
United Nations Development Programme, “Sex Work and the Law in Asia and the Pacific”, 2012.
Joint Submission by Kofra and Initiative Stop Sexkauf.
Joint submission by SOLWODI Deutschland et al.
Submission by Anerkennung, Respekt und Augenhöhe Trier.
Submission by Prajwala and Alliance Nordic Model Germany.
Submission by the Dominican Republic.
Submission by APRAMP.
Submission by FILIA UK.
Submission by Afghan Women EU.
Submission by M. D. Kreuzer.
Joint submission by Prostitution Research and Education et al.
Medicos del Mundo, “Prostitucion y trata de seres humanos con fines de explotacion sexual”, 2019.
Melissa Farley, Ann Cotton et al., “Prostitution and trafficking in nine countries: an update on
violence and post-traumatic stress disorder”, Journal of Trauma Practice, vol. 2, Nos. 3-4.
Submission by Voices of Israeli Sex Trade Survivors.
Submission by Anti-Trafficking Coalition Organizations in India.
Submission by UNAIDS Human Rights Reference Group.
Submission by COSWA Kenya.
5