There are three official positions in the wonderful world of human sex trafficking.
Can we really think that a girl or a woman voluntarily decides to become a prostitute?
In this blog, I will present these three points of view and I will take the opportunity to position Talitha Koumi from the outset: We are firmly and resolutely abolitionists.
Point of view 1:
This is the point of view considering prostitution from 2 angles: Voluntary prostitution and forced prostitution. Unsurprisingly, you will learn that this is the position held by Thailand, a country whose reputation for prostitution and pedophilia is unfortunately well established.
According to this position, prostitution must be considered a viable alternative to poverty.
Prostitutes must therefore be considered as sex workers and protected against abuse by traffickers, state authorities and police.
Point of view 2:
This is the point of view defended by sex workers’ associations.
For those who hold this position, work must be considered a form of work and not a form of violence, the violence in question arising rather from the criminalization of sex work, among other things.
The objective is therefore to allow prostitutes to work without risk.
Point of view 3:
Point of view 3:
This is the point of view of Talitha Koumi.
We are abolitionists, which means that we consider prostitution to be
a fundamental violation of human rights.
We also consider prostitution to be a form of modern slavery. We will never adhere to the point of view that considers prostitution to be a form of work.
In no case will a woman wake up one morning and decide that prostitution is a career choice. We believe rather that it results from a lack of choice.
This is also what we were able to observe during our report in the district of Indramayu in Indonesia
We endorse the words of lawyer Ekberg (AQOCI, 2001): … the constant demand for a new commodity dictates the trafficking of women and young girls … If men did not take for granted that they have the explicit right to buy and sexually exploit women and young girls, the sex trade would not exist (p.7).
The law of supply and demand: Ugly but true!
Talitha koumi therefore advocates the criminalization of abusers (clients, pimps as well as any person profiting from the activities of the prostitute) as well as the protection and social reintegration of victims (prostitutes).
Daniel Jean
Photojournalist
CEO of Talitha Koumi