Kafa says Human Rights Watch approach to counter prostitution is misleading

Kafa Enough Violence and Exploitation organization strongly responded yesterday to an earlier report which was published by Human Rights Watch and which read, ‘Syrian women at risk of sex trade in Lebanon’ that addressed the handling of the Lebanese government of the dilemma of trafficking in women for sexual purposes. The report, it should be noted, was prepared in the wake of the “Chez Maurice” night club incident last March which resulted in the freeing of some 75 Syrian girls who were subjected to abject forms of sexual slavery by an organized network of pimps and human traffickers. In its statement, Kafa noted that the international organization has used the above case to promote its new policy related to so-called ‘sex work’. It pointed out to the recommendation made by the human rights report as follows: “Criminalizing any consented sexual act between two adults creates problems that deprive sex workers of their basic rights, like the right to protection from violence, justice in challenging violations and the basic health services,” adding, that “forcing a person to provide sex services is the only act that should be penalized and prosecuted.” Kafa, in response, considered that such an approach in tackling prostitution is misleading and is in fact based on weak justifications. It suggests non-incrimination of the prostitution industry on the whole and promoting its regulation. This, Kafa statement went on to say, while realizing that it involves pimps and human traffickers, in addition to commercial enterprises that profit from and promote the industry, and the prime catalyst and promoter of the industry, which is the sex buyer. Kafa questioned the intentions of Human Rights Watch which tend to absolve the above parties and grant them social and legal protection. In conclusion, the Lebanese NGO criticized the international organization for overlooking the gender point of view, when talking about sex work and sex workers as a phenomenon that does not basically affect women and girls, insinuating that sex buyers are not almost absolutely men. (As Safir, Al Akhbar, August 5, 2016)