A/HRC/56/48 14. The aforementioned forms of violence and their consequences are compounded by the lack of legal protections for victims, the inability of many to perceive themselves as victims,60 the prosecution of women and girls in prostitution, lack of disaggregated data on impacts of prostitution,61 lack of exit programmes, facing language barriers, social stigma against them or their families, corruption and complicity of law enforcement and other State institutions, as well as State and non-State sanctioned discrimination. Attitudes such as racism, xenophobia, sexism, racism, particularly against women of colour, lesbophobia and transphobia aggravate violence against victims.62 It is also influenced by the very low prosecution and conviction of sexual act buyers.63 Many victims also fear the retaliation and “punitive measures” of the pimp or criminal organizations.64 15. Violence against women is prolific in pornography. An analysis of popular pornography videos completed in 2010 uncovered that 88.2 per cent of scenes contained acts of physical assault (e.g., gagging, choking or strangulation); 48.7 per cent contained acts of degrading verbal name-calling (i.e., bitch).65 Women in pornography often recounted being exposed to rectal and throat gonorrhoea; tearing of the throat, vagina and anus; and chlamydia of the eye.66 Prostituted women and girls are subjected to non-consensual image-based sexual abuse and cyberflashing. The same applies to pornography generated by artificial intelligence. According to one analysis, more than 96 per cent of pornography generated by artificial intelligence was produced without the consent of the individual featured. 67 In 2022 alone, there were over 100,000 computer-generated non-consensual images of women online.68 Victims of pornography generated by artificial intelligence, adolescents, especially girls, can suffer isolation, school bullying and harassment. They are therefore often retraumatized. Consequences for children of prostituted women, especially girls 16. Many women lose custody of their children as they are labelled bad mothers. Children of women in prostitution also suffer from violence, even while they are in their mothers’ wombs. Many children are conceived as a result of a violent act of prostitution. A study on children of prostituted women found delays in neurodevelopment, unschooling, suspected maltreatment, abuse or neglect, family dysfunction, partial or total absence of a father figure, housing and caregiver instability, and anxious, avoidant or ambivalent attachment. Other findings included attention deficit and hyperactivity, language and learning disorders, developmental disharmony, depressive disorders, suicidal ideation and self-injurious behaviour, hyperoxia, insomnia,69 cognition of guilt and worthlessness, and irritability.70 They are also often stolen, drugged or sold in trafficking networks regularly, used for sexual abuse or rape, and often are killed too.71 C. Consequences for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls 1. Increased pressure on marginalized women and girls 17. Prostitution thrives on sexualizing and racializing poverty, targeting women, particularly those from minority and marginalized backgrounds. It is therefore not a coincidence that, particularly in rich countries, the prostitution system is supplied by migrant 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 6 Submissions by Slovenia and the Salvation Army. Submission by Women’s Support Project. Joint submission by Prout – Beratung et al. Submission by Autonomous Women’s Centre. Submission by Slovenia. Ana J. Bridges et al., “Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis Update”, Violence Against Women, vol. 16, No. 10, 2010. Submission by Culture Reframed. Emine Saner, “Inside the Taylor Swift deepfake scandal”, The Guardian, 31 January 2024. Increasing Threat of Deepfake Identities, 2022. Submission by Center for Women War Victims – ROSA. Submission by NIA. See also https://www.humanium.org/en/child-prostitution/. Expert consultation.