200 civil society organisations launch European debate on abolition of prostitution

[Brussels, 04 December 2012] Today, the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), together with Fondation Scelles and Mouvement du Nid France, held a conference in the European Parliament aiming at assessing 10 years of policies on prostitution in Sweden and the Netherlands. On this occasion, around 200 women’s rights NGOs, coming from 25 Member States and four other countries, unveiled their Brussels’ Call “Together for a Europe free from prostitution”. Together with a dozen MEPs representing all political groups in the European Parliament and several Ministers, the NGOs explained why prostitution is a form of violence, an obstacle to equality, a violation of human dignity, and of human rights. They also presented six key recommendations to EU Member States: the suppression of repressive measures against prostituted persons; the criminalisation of all forms of procuring; the development of real alternatives and exit programmes for those in prostitution; the prohibition of the purchase of a sexual act; the implementation of policies of prevention, education, to promote equality and positive sexuality; the development of prevention policies in the countries of origin of prostituted persons. “Anyone who knows anything about the reality of prostitution for the hundreds of thousands of women in Europe whom it has trapped cannot fail to endorse this call for urgent action from the EU and its member states”, says Viviane Teitelbaum, President of the European Women’s Lobby. “With the Brussels’ Call, we clearly see that the abolition of prostitution is a shared value across Europe. For all signatories of the Call, the EU policies on trafficking won’t achieve results as long as the impunity of procurers and sex-buyers is not addressed”, says Grégoire Théry, Secretary General of Mouvement du Nid France. You can find the Brussels’ Call here.

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