Activities of Karen MELCHIOR related to 2022/2139(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights
Amendments (93)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
— having regard to 2012 Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2012/C 326/02);
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 b (new)
Citation 2 b (new)
— having regard to the 2000 Council Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)
Citation 3 a (new)
— having regard to Articles 1 and 4 of the 2011 Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention);
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
— having regard to the Commission on Human Rights Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2000/68, 2000;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 b (new)
Citation 4 b (new)
— having regard to the European Sex Workers Alliance policy brief entitled "Undeserving victims? A Community Report on Migrant Sex Worker Victims of Crime in Europe"
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 b (new)
Citation 4 b (new)
— having regard to the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 c (new)
Citation 4 c (new)
— having regard to the European Sex Workers Alliance policy brief entitled "Sex Work & Racism: Historical Overview of Racism in Anti-Sex Work, Anti-Trafficking and Anti-Immigration Legislation in Europe"
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 c (new)
Citation 4 c (new)
— having regard to the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 d (new)
Citation 4 d (new)
— having regard to the Amnesty International international policy on state obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of sex workers
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 e (new)
Citation 4 e (new)
— having regard to the Front Line Defenders report entitled “LGBTIQ+ and Sex Workers Rights Defenders at risk during COVID-19”
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 a (new)
Citation 5 a (new)
— having regard to the OHCHR Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 c (new)
Citation 5 c (new)
— having regard to the Front Line Defenders policy brief entitled “Sex Workers Rights Defenders at risk”
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6
Citation 6
— having regard to the Commission communication of 14 April 2021 on the EU Strategy on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings 2021-2025 (COM(2021)0171) and to Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA1 (the Anti- Trafficking Directive), _________________ 1 OJ L 101, 15.4.2011, p. 1.
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
— having regard to CEDAW, General Recommendation No. 37, CEDAW/C/GC/37, 2018;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 8 a (new)
Citation 8 a (new)
— having regard to the Council of Europe Second General Report on GREVIO Activities of April 2021
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)
Citation 10 a (new)
— having regard to the Council of Europe Gender Equality Commission's report of 17 November 2022 entitled, 'The Impact of Covid-19 on Women's Access to Justice';
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 a (new)
Citation 11 a (new)
— having regard the Council of Europe Second General Report on GREVIO Activities, April 2021;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 b (new)
Citation 11 b (new)
— having regard to the report Sex Worker Rights Defenders At Risk, Front Line Defenders, August 2021h;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
— having regard the report of UNAIDS, COVID-19 responses must uphold and protect the human rights of sex workers, 24 April 2020;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 b (new)
Citation 13 b (new)
— having regard Council of Europe, Gender Equality Commission: Study on the impact of Covid-19 on women’s access to justice;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 c (new)
Citation 13 c (new)
— having regard the UN Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2025;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 d (new)
Citation 13 d (new)
— having regard to CEDAW, General Recommendation on women’s access to justice, at 4, U.N. Doc. CEDAW/C/GC/33 (2015);
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 e (new)
Citation 13 e (new)
— having regard to the judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-268/99: Aldona Malgorzata Jany and Others v Staatssecretaris van Justitie. 20th November 2001.
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 f (new)
Citation 13 f (new)
— having regard to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights request no. 63664/9 in case M.A. and 256 others against France. 12th April 2021.
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas prostitution, itsthe sexual exploitation, and trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploforced prostitaution are increasingseem to become a growing global problem; whereas they are gender- specific phenomena with a global dimension and affect the most marginalised members of our societies, with the vast majority of people in prostitution being women and girls and almost all sex buyers being men;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
A b. whereas sexual exploitation is a serious form of violence that mostly affects women and girls; whereas the EU needs to support neighbouring countries in order for them to increase funding for social support and access to services for victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation, with psychological and social support from specialists, and to introduce specialised services dedicated to the full social and economic inclusion of marginalised women and girls to free them from sexual exploitation;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the internationally accepted wording used in most legally binding texts is prostitution of women and prostitution; whereas this term has connotations of criminality and immorality and can be perceived as demeaning and stigmatising; whereas this contributes to exclusion of people selling sex from health, legal, and social services; whereas people selling sexual services prefer the term “sex workers”, whereas this term is also more and more used by international bodies and human rights organisations;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas sex work, broadly defined, is the exchange of sexual services including sexual acts between consenting adults for money or goods, which may involve working independently, with others, or for a third party, regularly or sporadically; whereas if the consent between parties is absent for any reason, including threat or use of force, fraud, abuse of power or involving a child, such activity cannot be considered as a sex work and would constitute a human rights violation;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. whereas human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through threat, force, fraud, deception, abduction, abuse of power or a position of vulnerability or other forms of coercion, with the aim of exploiting them for profit; whereas victims of human trafficking can be of all sex and genders, all ages and from all backgrounds, this dangerous phenomenon affects disproportionally women and girls and other vulnerable groups in every region of the world, whereas traffickers often use violence, fraudulent employment agencies and fake promises of education and job opportunities to trick and coerce their victims and profit from a very developed and well financed criminal network, in the shadow of society;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas different regulatory measures concerning prostitution have different effects on gender equality; various juridical systems and different regulatory approaches are implemented concerning the sex selling; whereas regulations in the EU can be divided in two models - legalisation and prohibition, that can be further divided in sub-models; whereas different regulatory measures concerning prostitution have different effects on gender equality; whereas these laws and policies rarely achieve their desired effects on prostitution or a trafficking control and fail to address stigma and institutional discrimination and violence;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas different regulatory measures concerning prostitutionthe sex industry have different effects on gender equality;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas different policy measures currently implemented in the EU member states concerning people providing sexual services fail to address stigma, institutional discrimination and violence - including police violence, marginalisation and human rights violations against people selling sex
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas women in prostitution face morselling sex face globally egregious human rights violations, including high levels of gender-based violence; whereas they face more psychological, physical and sexual violence including institutional and police violence and exploitation than women on average;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. Whereas a presumption of criminality and discriminatory treatment has the effect of preventing sex workers from seeking justice when they encounter physical or sexual violence or extortion for fear that they will instead become the focus of a criminal investigation; Wheeras aggressors can direct violence at sex workers with relative impunity.
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas perpetrators may include not only violent clients and exploitative third parties but also police officers; whereas prohibition and criminalisation of prostitution can make it even more difficult to report the experience of violence; whereas these crimes against them are under-reported, under- investigated and unpunished;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
D b. whereas access to justice for people selling sex has always been compromised by discriminatory stereotypes and stigma; whereas people selling sex are consequently afraid of the police and immigration authorities and do not report cases of abuse and violence to authorities due to the well-founded fear that they will either receive no support, or even get fined, detained or deported;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
D b. Whereas sex workers are among the most precarious of informal workers, in part due to the criminalisation of various aspects of their work, such as clients and brothels, which often results in them also being criminalised; whereas they are also exposed to high rates of workplace violence.
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
D c. whereas due to lack of human rights impact assessment and lack of meaningful inclusion and consultation of affected communities the well-intended interventions that aim to prevent violence and exploitation in the sex industry fail; whereas international research, undertaken by amongst others UNDP, UNFPA, UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation, demonstrates legislation to disproportionately affect persons selling sex's rights and safety.
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
D c. whereas there is limited access to justice for sex workers due to discriminatory stereotypes; whereas people selling sex are reticent to report cases of abuse and violence to authorities due to the fear of being ignored, receiving no support, or being fined, detained or deported1a _________________ 1a https://rm.coe.int/revised-study-on-the- impact-of-covid-19-on-access-to-justice- 19-1-2023/1680a9d0c8
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D d (new)
Recital D d (new)
D d. whereas personal data of a sensitive nature collected during investigations of sexual violence is routinely shared outside the scope of the original investigation between authorities and in many cases lead to disproportionate punishment of persons selling sex, such as by eviction, deportation or through social sanctions.
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas ensuring the physical integrity of allrights of all people to have their bodily integrity, privacy and personal autonomy respected and guaranteeing equality and respect for women’s rights must be at the heart of Member State and EU policies;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas ensuring the physical integrity of all and guaranteeing equality and respect for women’s rightshuman rights including the right to make decisions over their own body and life must be at the heart of Member State and EU policies;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas there are strong human trafficking concerns many domains and fields, such as domestic work, agriculture, mining among others; whereas there can be a links between prostsexual exploituation and organised crime such as human trafficking;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas numerous factors cause people to enter prostitution, including poverty, social exclusion and a migration background and other social and economic preconditions it remains a matter of preference or of limited livelihood options for other people;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas numerous factors cause people to enter prostitutionsex work, including poverty, social exclusion and a migration backgroundlimited employment opportunities, discriminatory immigration laws and a lack of safe and legal migration opportunities;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. whereas structural and intersectional discrimination cause people engage in sex work; whereas policies and laws with a punitive approach fail to address the root causes, stigma and discrimination faced by sex workers and neglect their needs;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas prostitutionthe disparity of legislation on prostitution and sex work in the EU has cross- border implications and affects women’s and minorities’ rights and gender equality; whereas the disparity of legislation on prostitution in the EU benefitsall Member States have a legal obligation to discourage and end human traffickersing and organised crime networks; whereas all Member States have a legal obligation to discourage and end human trafficking and ; whereas persons selling sex and sex work have been traditionally marginalised, it is important to have a human rights based approach, taking into account that being in vulnerable situation they are often not aware of their rights; whereas having an open dialogue and listen to the voices of persons selling sex is an imporgtanised crime; t part of the process, when legislating about them;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that approaches to regulating prostitution and sex work vary across the EU and target three key components of this system: prostituted persons, the purchase of sex (i.e. demand), and pimping; stresses that the different laws have different effects on women in prostitution, their rights, women’s rights in generalthrough punitive administrative or criminal law of this system: people selling sex, the purchase of sex ,and third parties; stresses that the different laws have different effects on persons selling sex, their rights in general including the access to health, social services and justice system, women’s and minorities’ rights, gender equality, demand, society and neighbouring countries; .
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Regrets the lack of reliable, accurate and comparable data across countries necessary for global and critical analyses in order to provide to Member States all necessary tools to adopt or review policies that are ineffective to fight the human trafficking and organised crimes and have significant negative effects on people selling sex and their rights;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that women in prostitution experience more violence than women on average; refers to a 2019 study by the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, according to which 41 % of the women in prostitution surveyed hapersons selling sex, especially women and LGBTIQ+ persons, who are exposed to repressive policing had a three times higher chance to experience more violence than women on average and are twice more likely to have HIV1a _________________ 1a as referred to by the meta-analysis by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) of 40 quantitative and 94 qualitative studies spanning a period of 28 yearsPlatt L, Grenfell P, Meiksin R, Elmes J, Sherman SG, Sanders T, Mwangi P, Crago AL. Associations between sex work laws and sexperienced physical or sexual violence (or both) in the context of prostitution; workers’ health: a systematic review and meta- analysis of quantitative and qualitative studies. PLOS Medicine. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002680
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Underlines that inherent element of agency is the capacity to give and withhold consent; notes that consent can only be given freely when there is no power imbalance between the people involved or if there is no use of threat, violence or coercion; notes, at the same time, thateven if it can be extremely difficult for people to realise that they are victims, especially when they do not know their rights, and recalls the dynamics of an abusive relationshipconflating all sex work with sexual exploitation undertermines the agency of adult people to make informed and fully free decisions about their private and sexual life;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Underlines that the inherent element of agency is the capacity to give or withhold consent; Notes that conflating sex work with sexual exploitation undermines the agency of people, especially women, to make informed decisions about their private and sexual lives;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines that the European Parliament recognised, in its resolution of 26 February 2014 on sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality, that prostitution and sexual exploitation are violations of human dignity, contravene human rights principles such as gender equality and are therefore contrary to the principles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; recallNotes that it defined prostitthe resolution was a serious form of violence and exploitation in its resolution of 5 July 2022 on women’s poverty in Europe4 ; _________________ 4 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2022)0274dopted during the previous mandate and reflected the position of the European Paliament at that time.
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Underlines that the European Parliament called for, in its resolution on The EU Strategy for Gender Equality of 21 January 2021, a concrete framework for the rights and protection of sex workers during and after a crisis; further insists on the importance of including measures and strategies that tackle the discrimination faced by sex workers in access to funding, housing, healthcare, education and other services1a; _________________ 1a Texts adopted, P9_TA(2021)0025
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Condemns the fact that women in prostitutionpeople selling sex, especially women and LGBTIQ+ persons, lack legal security because of their disproportionate criminalisation, meaning they face the constant threat of police and judicial persecution, are subject to additional vulnerability and stigmatisation that negatively affect their health, consequently experience difficulties in contacting support services and lack access to fundamental rights; deplores the fact that, at the same time, clients, brothel ownerperpetrators posing as clients, exploitative third parties and human traffickers often remain unpunished;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Condemns the fact that presumption of criminality and discriminatory treatment has the effect of preventing people selling sex, especially women and LGBTIQ+ persons, from seeking justice when they encounter physical or sexual violence or extortion for fear that they will instead become the focus of a criminal investigation or experience uncontrolled publicity and social pressure that can affect their private life and family;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Is concerned, that criminalization of solicitation, criminalization of customers and criminalization of exploitation of people selling sex in itself does not abolish prostitution or sex work, nor resolves the underlying root causes.
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Points out the negative consequences of the decriminalisation of pimping and the purchase ofRegrets the position of some of the States that all sex, which, through the apparent societal normalisation of these activities, leads to an increase in the trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation and conceals the reality of coercion, manipulation, violence and exploitation in prostitution, where a lack of language skills, vulnerabilities and precarious conditions are exploited to make women enter and stay in prostork is inherently exploitative, notes that investigating consensual adult sex work as crime, and treating persons selling sex as victims, takes precious resources away from dealing with real situations of exploitation and trafficking. Stresses that it also leads to human rights violations of persons selling sex who are detained and forced into ‘rehabilituation; regrets the fact that even the legalisation of prostitution, pimping and the purchase of sex does not mean an end to the stigma for women in pro’ programmes or if they dissent, they are deprived of custody of their children, migrant women are deported to their countries of origin, including those with regularised residence stiatution;s or EU citizens.
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes the fact that an increasing number of countries are taking up and implementing the Nordic/Equality model;strive to achieve the Union of Equality by meaningful inclusion of discriminated and marginalised persons selling sex and provide subsidies to supports the feminist background of this model and its goal of achieving gender equality, and highlights the model’sir community based organisation to better address the needs and rights of the most marginalised people selling sex, including identification and referral of those exploited and trafficked. Is convinced that only human rights based strategies can help to achieve the real gender equality and have positive effects both on the rights of people in prostitution and the fight against human trafficking; rsons selling work than on the society itself;
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Stresses that human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is a severe violation of human rights, especially for migrant women, women from disadvantaged backgrounds or LGBTIQ+ persons; strongly condemns human trafficking for sexual exploitation of all people, including women, girls and vulnerable groups;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation only exist because there is a demand for them;rights-based strategies to address demand should focus on addressing discriminatory attitudes, and beliefs for example through education of the youth and practices; particularly those directed against women, minorities and migrants.
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Notes that narrow understanding of demand reduction that is instrumentalized by criminalising purchase of sex and criminalization of pimping is ignoring the structural and systemic discrimination against women and LGBTIQ+ persons permeating all aspects of their life, including in the context of migration;
Amendment 258 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12 b. Condemns that anti-trafficking police raids and rescue operations are more often than not used for immigration enforcement purposes and result in migrant persons selling sex being evicted from their homes, detained and deported as the selling of sex is grounds for deportation and denial of entry for people coming outside the EU;
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 c (new)
Paragraph 12 c (new)
12 c. Regrets the broad interpretation of the third-party legislation whereby all assistance in the sale of sex is prohibited even if it is not for profit, within which people selling sex together, landlords, hotel owners, accountants and others, can be accused of pimping if they are associated with the sale of sex;
Amendment 266 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is concerned that the legalislation ofn prostitution promotes legal structures behind which traffickers can hideand sex work often compromises safety of people selling sex, leads them to work in more hidden and isolated areas and compromise their ability to organise and to effectively address exploitation in sex industry;
Amendment 277 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. StressNotes that human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is incpeople selling sex are warning about the dramatic consequences of penalising clients and repreassing due to high demand; points out that this is particularly visible in countries with a liberal regulatory model, whereas countries that follow approaches like the Nordic/Equality model are no longer big markets for human trafficking for that purpose;ve policies against them in some Member States, denouncing that this legislation makes them more precarious, unprotected, weakens them and exposes them to violence and high risks to their health.
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Stresses that in a decision released on April 12, the European Court of Human Rights accepted to consider the complaints from 261 sex workers from France, who want the French law to be recognized for infringing their fundamental rights especially the right to health and safety and the right to respect for private life.
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes that the different approaches to regulation in the EU have different effects and that women in prostitutionpersons selling sex have different rights and protections in different EU Member States; stresses that while the competence to regulate prostitution and sex work remains in the competence of the EU Member States, people selling sex must be able to enjoy the rights enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; underlines that, on average, 70 % of the individuals in prostitutionpersons selling sex in the EU are migrant women and that trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation mostly affects women and girls coming from the east of the European Union;
Amendment 294 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Highlights, that criminal networks engaged in human trafficking, and similar activities, which provides human labour for hard tasks including but not limited to agriculture, extraction, sex work, manufacturing and other areas, are often international in nature, and cannot effectively be addressed by individual member states.
Amendment 296 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 7
Subheading 7
Impact on gender equality and, women’s and sexual minorities` rights
Amendment 297 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Emphasises that women in all their diversity have amongst others the fundamental rights to physical and mental integrity, respect for private life and family and to choose an occupation and to engage in work;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Underlines that debates around sex work have historically served as a central site on which to exert control over women, their bodies and their choices;
Amendment 299 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Emphasises that the gender-specific nature of prostitution reflects and replicates the prevailing power relations; stresses that prostitution and sexual exploitation are both a cause and a consequence of the unequal treatment of women and men and replicate and perpetuate stereotypes about women and men; Stresses that deeply rooted gender stereotypes related to women’s sexuality and morality, combined with gaps in legislation and its implementation, render women selling sex subject to frequent criminal sanctions even in countries where prostitution is legalised;
Amendment 314 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Emphasises that sexuality education is an essential measure in working towards a violence-free society as it challenges harmful gender stereotypes, promotes diversity, bodily autonomy, and physical and mental integrity; Notes that sexuality education sheds light on the social taboo of sexuality and addresses it as an integral part of our lives related to our health and well-being;
Amendment 318 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Underlines the Member States’ obligation to protect women’s rights and physical integrity and promote gender equality and diversity, and highlights the EU’s role in doing this within the international community and in creating equal protection and equal rights across Member States;
Amendment 327 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 d (new)
Paragraph 19 d (new)
Amendment 338 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Highlights that the European Court of Justice has ruled1a that the activity of sex work pursued in a self- employed capacity can be regarded as a service provided for remuneration and therefore persons selling sex can work legally in any European Union country as long as they are self-employed and sex work is tolerated there. _________________ 1a CJUE, 20 Nov 2001, C-268/99,Aldona Malgorzata Jany and Others
Amendment 340 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)
Paragraph 20 b (new)
20 b. Calls on the Member States to take action in the areas of prevention, decriminalisation of people selling sex, exit programmes, destigmatisation and the elimination of stereotypes; calls on the Member States to ensure a better protection of women and their rights, to end the criminalisation and stigmatisation of people selling sex and to ensure exit strategies and unconditional access to social security systems and reintegration; Calls on the Member States to ensure that people selling sex are involved in policy making concerning their lives and rights;
Amendment 343 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 c (new)
Paragraph 20 c (new)
20 c. Calls on Member States to commit necessary resources to social programmes designed to address and mitigate the root causes of prostitution and sex work by strengthening medical, financial, legal, employment and traning support for persons selling sex and vulnerable people, and to commit resources to provide support for victims of domestic and sexual violence and support reception centres;
Amendment 344 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 d (new)
Paragraph 20 d (new)
20 d. Calls on Member States to ensure proper training of staff at all levels and especially in enforcement, judicial and other legal services, to support and guarantee the rights of those in prostitution and persons selling sex without prejudice to stigma typically associated with sex work;
Amendment 345 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 e (new)
Paragraph 20 e (new)
20 e. Calls on Members States to undertake awareness initiatives aimed to let people selling sex know of their rights regardless of legal status and access to alternatives to sex work. Observes that any programmes must be based on a holistic approach including metal health and health services, housing support, education, training and employment services.
Amendment 350 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Member States to ensure that it is punishable as a criminal offence to solicit, accept or obtainforce a person to a sexual act from a persoeven in exchange for remuneration, the promise of remuneration, the provision of a benefit in kind or the promise of such a benefit;
Amendment 351 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21 a. Stresses regulation EU 679/2016’s rules on use and sharing of personal data beyond the scope for which personal data is collected, and underlines that data collected from victims seeking support may not be passed to other authorities except on the legal basis of the data subject’s express consent. Takes note, that illegal sharing of personal data may have severe consequences for the data subject and should be considered under EU679/2016 article 83(5).
Amendment 360 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls for specific measures to assist women in prostitutionand LGBTIQ+ persons selling sex with their social and professional reintegration if they wish so; calls for such exit programmes to work gradually, for women to be supported on their personal paths and for peoplerson’s potential to be recognised, with and professional training and further education programmes being adapted to take account of this;
Amendment 375 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls for comprehensive psychological, medical and socio- economic support for victims and survivors of sexual exploitation and human trafficking;
Amendment 377 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Calls for a financial support for the civil society defending rights of persons selling sex; Regrets that these organisations and communities are targeted by hate speech and defamation campaigns by government officials or influential public personalities especially in countries that aim at abolishing prostitution;
Amendment 381 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Paragraph 24 b (new)
24 b. Regrets the fact that the European Commission Citizens, Rights, Equality and Values Programme rejected funding addressing intersectional discrimination of persons selling sex in past on the bases that the legislative competence on how prostitution and sex work is regulated remains within the discretion of the EU Member States; Calls on the European Commission to include the issue of intersectional discrimination of persons selling sex into its funding programmes; In line with the EU's Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, calls on the EU institutions to ensure visible support for defenders of rights of persons selling sex acknowledging the critical work they carry out in defending the basic human rights of communities that are among the most marginalised; Ensure non- discriminatory access for these organisations to EU human rights funding streams including with regards to Human Rights Defenders protection;
Amendment 385 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 c (new)
Paragraph 24 c (new)
24 c. Calls on the Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU to address the issue of human rights of persons selling sex and to compile research that will provide reliable information and data on the human rights situation of persons selling sex in the EU- in particular in the area of their access to justice system.