EWL joins 5.2 Global Partnership and calls for a strong gender dimension in the new Global Action Plan to end trafficking

September 18, 2017

Mirta Baselovic

[Brussels, 18 September 2017] On September 27 and 28, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and Member States will review the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons (launched in 2010) and issue a Political Declaration outlining the way forward in the fight against trafficking. In its definition of exploitation, the 2010 Action Plan defines includes “the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs”. The Action Plan also recognises the different factors that make people vulnerable to trafficking, including “a culture of tolerance towards violence against women, youth and children”. While the international community is working towards the achievements of the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs), it is crucial that the reality of trafficking in women and girls is taken into account, and understood in direct relation to gender inequality and the SDG 5. This is why an international coalition, under the coordination of CATW, has decided to create the 5.2 Global Partnership, which calls on Member States, the UN and its agencies to put the target 5.2 at the core of their work to end all forms of trafficking: “eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation”. The European Women’s Lobby has joined 5.2 Global Partnership, as we want to make sure that women and girls are not forgotten in the negotiation for a new Action Plan, that trafficking in persons is not understood as a neutral concept with no gender dimension, and that prostitution and sexual exploitation cannot be defined as forms of ‘forced labour’. We know, from the experience of our member organisations and the reality on the ground, that trafficking in women and girls is mainly fueled by the sex trade and prostitution markets, and that sex trafficking specifically targets women and girls in a context of pervasive tolerance for male violence and intersectional exploitation. In this context, the EWL also supports Equality Now’s campaign which provides a series of visuals to raise awareness of the gender dimension of trafficking (including tesimonies of survivors), and calls on the President of the General Assembly and the Chair of the Inter-agency Coordination Group Against Trafficking in Persons to ensure that SDG 5.2 is addressed in the Global Plan of Action. To join the 5.2 Global Partnership, find out more here. To write to the UN with Equality Now, and/or use visuals, find out more here. #ListenToSurvivors #EndDemand #StopSextrafficking #Reach5_2 #Planet5050

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