MOTION FOR RESOLUTION BY COMMITTEE ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUALITY
From abolitionism to legalisation: The legal landscape of prostitution varies greatly across the EU, with forced prostitution, underage prostitution and unsafe working conditions still occurring across the Union. What stance should Member States adopt in order to safeguard sex workers’ welfare?
Submitted by: Julia la Bastide, Tommy Kramer, Laura Matias de Campos, Douwe Overtoom, Kwint Schut, Evita van Vliet, Emma Watson, Foteini Chatzikyriakou (GR, Chairperson)
The European Youth Parliament,
- Bearing in mind that the stigmatisation of prostitution and stereotypes have led to:
- The discrimination of sex workers,
- The sex industry not being sufficiently controlled, monitored or regulated;
- Alarmed by the fact that pimps, brothel owners and clients continuously take advantage of sex workers, abusing them psychologically and physically,
- Concerned by the increased likelihood prostitutes have to experience an unwanted pregnancy, contract an STI or various other illnesses due to their unhealthy work environment,
- Recognising that the lack of professional health care can lead to sex workers developing mental health issues,
- Aware of the number of human beings trafficked in the Member States for sexual exploitation,
- Deeply concerned by the number of children being forced to get involved in the prostitution industry,
- Emphasising the fact that sex tourism is a multibillion dollar industy, in which minors are involved,
- Noting with deep concern the lack of harmonisation in the legislative models addressing prostitution among Member States;
- Encourages Member States to raise awareness about prostitution as legitimate employment in order to reduce stereotypes;
- Proposes Member States improve the communication between local authorities and red light districts and upgrade the warning systems in order to regulate more efficiently and ensure the safety of the sex workers’ environment;
- Calls upon the European Commission to collaborate with the European Sex Workers Alliance to help with the regulation of the sex industry;
- Encourages Member States to use the tax income from legalised prostitution to provide contraceptives for sex workers;
- Calls upon the EU to fund psychologists’ further education on providing help to sex workers;
- Recommends Member States introduce educational programs for law enforcement authorities on human trafficking;
- Asks Director-General of the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs (DCYJMA) to ensure youth care and child protection within the EU, mitigating the risk of them being forced into prostitution;
- Urges the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) to tackle the sex tourism industry by advertising legal brothels;
- Asks Member States to adopt a common model to legalise prostitution.