Adolescent prostitution advocate
takes top UN post
NEW YORK, (C-Fam) The United Nations has appointed a former abortionist who advocates for teenage prostitution as its leading expert on health and human rights .
Last April, the author of “ Dr. T: A Guide to Sexual Health and Pleasure ” and host of a South African TV show “Sex Talk with Dr. T ”, was sharply reprimanded by human trafficking survivors and advocacy groups when she wrote an article in Teen Vogue
encouraging young girls to consider“ sex work ”.
“I believe that sex work and sex worker rights are women's rights, health rights, labor rights and the litmus test of cross-sector feminism,” Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng wrote in her article. 2019 Why Sex Work is Real Work . “The idea of buying privacy and paying for services can promote assertiveness in many people who need human relationships, friendship and emotional support. Some people may have perverse fantasies and preferences that they are able to fulfill through the services of a sex worker. "
Dr Mofokeng's editorial outraged abolitionists who are working to end sexual violence against vulnerable women and girls. At the time, Mofokeng was just a sexual health and rights advocate. A year later, the South African doctor was elevated to the post of United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, where she will lead her campaign to decriminalize prostitution around the world. =
Anti-trafficking groups reacted strongly.
“The idea that legalizing or decriminalizing the sex trade would reduce its harms is a lingering myth,” said Deidre Pujols, founder of Open Gate International and co-founder of Strike Out Slavery. “Many claim that if the sex trade were legal, regulated and treated like any other profession, it would be safer. But research suggests the opposite. Countries that have legalized or decriminalized the sex trade often experience an upsurge in human trafficking, procuring and other related crimes. "
“Sex buyers don't see the women they buy as people worthy of respect, but rather as subhuman objects to use,” Haley McNamara told Friday Fax. McNamara, vice chairman of the UK-based International Center on Sexual Exploitation (ICOSE), cited a US study which found that 75% of female prostitutes reported being raped by sex buyers.
The UN has already drawn opposition from the anti-trafficking community. Over the past decade, United Nations agencies like UN Women, UNAID and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have all taken neutral positions on the decriminalization of prostitution.
"The law Dr. Mofokeng advocates completely decriminalizes all aspects of the sex trade, including brothels and pimps (aka traffickers)," said Helen Taylor, director of intervention for Exodus Cry. "The United Nations should be the last place to advocate for the human traffickers and buyers who fuel the demand for legalization."
Taylor urged the UN and Dr Mofokeng to take a “survivors-centered approach and align with the Equality model of partial decriminalization only” which helps exploited women and girls and criminalizes the buyer.
“The brutality of prostitution is inherent and systemic,” wrote Jewell Baraka in response to Mofokeng's appointment. Baraka, a survivor of sexual exploitation with Exodus Cry implored Dr Mofokeng to reconsider her take on prostitution. “The violence of sex buyers is not eradicated by choice and those who choose it completely of their own accord are rare. Most survivors don't tell a story of choice, but of force, fraud and coercion that led them into prostitution and kept them from leaving.
Appointed by the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the special rapporteurs are independent from UN member states and exercise considerable influence over how human rights obligations are interpreted within the UN. UN bureaucracy. Mofokeng's reports advancing sexual rights, including the legalization of prostitution, are likely to be cited as authoritative interpretations of
human rights by like-minded UN agencies and member states.
Last April, the author of “ Dr. T: A Guide to Sexual Health and Pleasure ” and host of a South African TV show “Sex Talk with Dr. T ”, was sharply reprimanded by human trafficking survivors and advocacy groups when she wrote an article in Teen Vogue
encouraging young girls to consider“ sex work ”.
“I believe that sex work and sex worker rights are women's rights, health rights, labor rights and the litmus test of cross-sector feminism,” Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng wrote in her article. 2019 Why Sex Work is Real Work . “The idea of buying privacy and paying for services can promote assertiveness in many people who need human relationships, friendship and emotional support. Some people may have perverse fantasies and preferences that they are able to fulfill through the services of a sex worker. "
Dr Mofokeng's editorial outraged abolitionists who are working to end sexual violence against vulnerable women and girls. At the time, Mofokeng was just a sexual health and rights advocate. A year later, the South African doctor was elevated to the post of United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, where she will lead her campaign to decriminalize prostitution around the world. =
Anti-trafficking groups reacted strongly.
“The idea that legalizing or decriminalizing the sex trade would reduce its harms is a lingering myth,” said Deidre Pujols, founder of Open Gate International and co-founder of Strike Out Slavery. “Many claim that if the sex trade were legal, regulated and treated like any other profession, it would be safer. But research suggests the opposite. Countries that have legalized or decriminalized the sex trade often experience an upsurge in human trafficking, procuring and other related crimes. "
“Sex buyers don't see the women they buy as people worthy of respect, but rather as subhuman objects to use,” Haley McNamara told Friday Fax. McNamara, vice chairman of the UK-based International Center on Sexual Exploitation (ICOSE), cited a US study which found that 75% of female prostitutes reported being raped by sex buyers.
The UN has already drawn opposition from the anti-trafficking community. Over the past decade, United Nations agencies like UN Women, UNAID and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have all taken neutral positions on the decriminalization of prostitution.
"The law Dr. Mofokeng advocates completely decriminalizes all aspects of the sex trade, including brothels and pimps (aka traffickers)," said Helen Taylor, director of intervention for Exodus Cry. "The United Nations should be the last place to advocate for the human traffickers and buyers who fuel the demand for legalization."
Taylor urged the UN and Dr Mofokeng to take a “survivors-centered approach and align with the Equality model of partial decriminalization only” which helps exploited women and girls and criminalizes the buyer.
“The brutality of prostitution is inherent and systemic,” wrote Jewell Baraka in response to Mofokeng's appointment. Baraka, a survivor of sexual exploitation with Exodus Cry implored Dr Mofokeng to reconsider her take on prostitution. “The violence of sex buyers is not eradicated by choice and those who choose it completely of their own accord are rare. Most survivors don't tell a story of choice, but of force, fraud and coercion that led them into prostitution and kept them from leaving.
Appointed by the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the special rapporteurs are independent from UN member states and exercise considerable influence over how human rights obligations are interpreted within the UN. UN bureaucracy. Mofokeng's reports advancing sexual rights, including the legalization of prostitution, are likely to be cited as authoritative interpretations of
human rights by like-minded UN agencies and member states.