SEXUAL OFFENDING, PROSTITUTION AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING
INTRODUCTION
AIM & PHENOMENA SELECTED
Aim
• To gain a proper, nuanced and multi-perspective understanding of the causes, mechanisms,
dynamics and complexity of a cluster of specific (crime) phenomena, i.e. sexual offending,
prostitution and human trafficking, as well as of their interrelations and of societal and (criminal)
policy reactions thereto
Issues (phenomena) selected | modules
• Trafficking in human beings
o Legal approaches and policies | phenomenon and dynamics
• Prostitution & sex work
o Legal approaches and policies | phenomenon and dynamics
• Child sexual abuse & abuse of power or authority
• Sexual exploitation of children, CSAM & grooming
• Rape, sexual assault & sexual harassment
• Bestiality & animal porn, BDSM & necrophilia
• Pornography, exhibitionism voyeurism
• AI & robots
PERSPECTIVES & DIMENSIONS
• Legal dimension
o Domestic, European, international and comparative criminal,
administrative/immigration, social and extraterritorial jurisdiction law
• Prevention strategies and societal and (criminal) policy reactions
• Phenomenological and epidemiological data
• Victim perspective
• Offender perspective
• Children’s rights perspective
• Moral dimension: sexuality morality and attitudes
• Economic dimension: demand and supply (elasticity) in the sexual services market, …
• Corporate dimension: corporate and chain responsibility, sectoral self-regulation
• Gender and gay dimensions
• Migration perspective: international and EU third country national migration, free movement EU
• European and international policy level and actor perspective
o EU (Council, EC, EP, Europol, etc.), Council of Europe, OSCE, ILO, UN
• Multi-actor perspective
o Police, labour and social inspection services, prosecution services, immigration services,
border guards, tax administrations, city administrations, neighbourhoods, NGOs, health
and welfare sector, ISPs
1
,EXPECTATIONS (COMPETENCES)
• Understand/unveil the interaction between legal/regulatory frameworks and evaluative,
normative and attitudinal frameworks/discourses regarding sexuality, sexual behavior and
exploitation
• Independently consult, analyse and critically/scientifically assess sources, literature and research
data
• Apply knowledge of the European and international institutional and policy development
context of criminology and criminal justice when addressing sexual offending, prostitution and
human trafficking and reactions thereto
• Address sexual offending, prostitution and human trafficking multi-dimensionally, multi-
disciplinary, through multiple (theoretical) frames and from a multi-actor perspective
• Apply in-depth knowledge of the phenomena concerned (and reactions thereto) in scientific
research
• Understand and analyse current debates and issues regarding sexual offending, prostitution and
human trafficking crime (and reactions thereto)
• Critically approach sexual offending, prostitution and human trafficking (and reactions thereto)
through research and the application of theory
• Articulate a scientifically-reasoned opinion about sexual offending, prostitution and human
trafficking (and reactions thereto) that pays due attention to ethical, cultural and legal issues
• Think independently and critically about societal and (criminal) policy reactions to the
phenomena of sexual offending, prostitution and human trafficking
• Write a clear report on the results of (own) scientific research and/or personal views
• Respect cultural differences, pluralism, gender and ethical standards
TEACHING METHODS
• Integration seminar
o Building on and aiming at integrating knowledge that was acquired during a range of
courses
o (limited) introduction to the topic and literature
o Enabling for/focused on group discussion
• Guided self-study
o Course materials organized per module
o Mandatory readings [ahead of live sessions] | courtesy: version for print
o Optional readings as a courtesy (inspiration for papers, discretionary knowledge
consolidation, broadening & deepening)
• Self-reliant study activities
o Research: individual or group (4 students max) paper
o Critical paper, 3000 words/person, excluding ToC, footnotes, bibliography/reference list
and a mandatory annex in which students make transparent if and how they have made
use of GenAI in an acceptable and reasoned fashion
2
,EVALUATION
• End-of-term assessment (60%)
o This year: written exam with short-answer questions and open questions, balancing
legal and non-legal questions
o Open questions envisage testing students’ understanding and analytical and
interpretational skills regarding the causes, mechanisms, dynamics, complexity and
interrelations of the phenomena concerned and regarding societal and (criminal) policy
reactions thereto
o See sample questions
o Legal instruments for use during exam: bespoke reader
o Non-annotated bilingual translation dictionary allowed
• Continuous assessment (40%)
o Research paper (supra) | separate information session
• Participation in both non-periodic and periodic evaluation is mandatory
o Otherwise, students will be declared “failed”: if the final score is ten or more (out of
twenty), it will be reduced to the highest non-pass grade (7/20)
3
, TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS
LEGAL APPROACHES
Principal legal instruments
• UN
o 2000 Trafficking Protocol to UN TOC Convention
o 2000 Smuggling Protocol to UN TOC Convention
Transnational Organised Crime Convention (= TOC Convention)
Trafficking ≠ smuggling!
▪ Smuggling: to get into the EU, the EU created the smugglers
▪ Trafficking: creates VICTIMS! → to protect the human rights
▪ Sometimes smugglers can be traffickers… (not often)
▪ Criminalise smuggling: to protect the territory
o 1950 Convention on THB and exploitation prostitution
1950 convention → very bad convention (see later), still applicable
• CoE
o 2005 Warsaw Convention on THB
More human rights focussed than UN protocol
• EU
o First actually to start dealing with trafficking
o 2002 FD on THB → hard law intstrument
o 2004 residence permit directive for THB victims
Good and bad…
o 2011 directive on THB
Repealing the 2002 FD
Amended by directive 2024/1712 of 13/6/2024 (transposition 15/7/2026)
GENDER-NEUTRAL CRIMINAL LAW APPROACH
• However: particular vulnerability women
o Feminization of poverty
o Gender discrimination
o Lack of educational/professional opportunities in home countries
• Specific attention to (criminal) status of exploitation in prostitution
o Even then: gender-neutrality important
o Also: male/boys prostitution
o Gender: false rationale for criminalization clients of prostitution?
• THB problem expanded from sexual to labour sphere
o Significant number of male victims
4
INTRODUCTION
AIM & PHENOMENA SELECTED
Aim
• To gain a proper, nuanced and multi-perspective understanding of the causes, mechanisms,
dynamics and complexity of a cluster of specific (crime) phenomena, i.e. sexual offending,
prostitution and human trafficking, as well as of their interrelations and of societal and (criminal)
policy reactions thereto
Issues (phenomena) selected | modules
• Trafficking in human beings
o Legal approaches and policies | phenomenon and dynamics
• Prostitution & sex work
o Legal approaches and policies | phenomenon and dynamics
• Child sexual abuse & abuse of power or authority
• Sexual exploitation of children, CSAM & grooming
• Rape, sexual assault & sexual harassment
• Bestiality & animal porn, BDSM & necrophilia
• Pornography, exhibitionism voyeurism
• AI & robots
PERSPECTIVES & DIMENSIONS
• Legal dimension
o Domestic, European, international and comparative criminal,
administrative/immigration, social and extraterritorial jurisdiction law
• Prevention strategies and societal and (criminal) policy reactions
• Phenomenological and epidemiological data
• Victim perspective
• Offender perspective
• Children’s rights perspective
• Moral dimension: sexuality morality and attitudes
• Economic dimension: demand and supply (elasticity) in the sexual services market, …
• Corporate dimension: corporate and chain responsibility, sectoral self-regulation
• Gender and gay dimensions
• Migration perspective: international and EU third country national migration, free movement EU
• European and international policy level and actor perspective
o EU (Council, EC, EP, Europol, etc.), Council of Europe, OSCE, ILO, UN
• Multi-actor perspective
o Police, labour and social inspection services, prosecution services, immigration services,
border guards, tax administrations, city administrations, neighbourhoods, NGOs, health
and welfare sector, ISPs
1
,EXPECTATIONS (COMPETENCES)
• Understand/unveil the interaction between legal/regulatory frameworks and evaluative,
normative and attitudinal frameworks/discourses regarding sexuality, sexual behavior and
exploitation
• Independently consult, analyse and critically/scientifically assess sources, literature and research
data
• Apply knowledge of the European and international institutional and policy development
context of criminology and criminal justice when addressing sexual offending, prostitution and
human trafficking and reactions thereto
• Address sexual offending, prostitution and human trafficking multi-dimensionally, multi-
disciplinary, through multiple (theoretical) frames and from a multi-actor perspective
• Apply in-depth knowledge of the phenomena concerned (and reactions thereto) in scientific
research
• Understand and analyse current debates and issues regarding sexual offending, prostitution and
human trafficking crime (and reactions thereto)
• Critically approach sexual offending, prostitution and human trafficking (and reactions thereto)
through research and the application of theory
• Articulate a scientifically-reasoned opinion about sexual offending, prostitution and human
trafficking (and reactions thereto) that pays due attention to ethical, cultural and legal issues
• Think independently and critically about societal and (criminal) policy reactions to the
phenomena of sexual offending, prostitution and human trafficking
• Write a clear report on the results of (own) scientific research and/or personal views
• Respect cultural differences, pluralism, gender and ethical standards
TEACHING METHODS
• Integration seminar
o Building on and aiming at integrating knowledge that was acquired during a range of
courses
o (limited) introduction to the topic and literature
o Enabling for/focused on group discussion
• Guided self-study
o Course materials organized per module
o Mandatory readings [ahead of live sessions] | courtesy: version for print
o Optional readings as a courtesy (inspiration for papers, discretionary knowledge
consolidation, broadening & deepening)
• Self-reliant study activities
o Research: individual or group (4 students max) paper
o Critical paper, 3000 words/person, excluding ToC, footnotes, bibliography/reference list
and a mandatory annex in which students make transparent if and how they have made
use of GenAI in an acceptable and reasoned fashion
2
,EVALUATION
• End-of-term assessment (60%)
o This year: written exam with short-answer questions and open questions, balancing
legal and non-legal questions
o Open questions envisage testing students’ understanding and analytical and
interpretational skills regarding the causes, mechanisms, dynamics, complexity and
interrelations of the phenomena concerned and regarding societal and (criminal) policy
reactions thereto
o See sample questions
o Legal instruments for use during exam: bespoke reader
o Non-annotated bilingual translation dictionary allowed
• Continuous assessment (40%)
o Research paper (supra) | separate information session
• Participation in both non-periodic and periodic evaluation is mandatory
o Otherwise, students will be declared “failed”: if the final score is ten or more (out of
twenty), it will be reduced to the highest non-pass grade (7/20)
3
, TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS
LEGAL APPROACHES
Principal legal instruments
• UN
o 2000 Trafficking Protocol to UN TOC Convention
o 2000 Smuggling Protocol to UN TOC Convention
Transnational Organised Crime Convention (= TOC Convention)
Trafficking ≠ smuggling!
▪ Smuggling: to get into the EU, the EU created the smugglers
▪ Trafficking: creates VICTIMS! → to protect the human rights
▪ Sometimes smugglers can be traffickers… (not often)
▪ Criminalise smuggling: to protect the territory
o 1950 Convention on THB and exploitation prostitution
1950 convention → very bad convention (see later), still applicable
• CoE
o 2005 Warsaw Convention on THB
More human rights focussed than UN protocol
• EU
o First actually to start dealing with trafficking
o 2002 FD on THB → hard law intstrument
o 2004 residence permit directive for THB victims
Good and bad…
o 2011 directive on THB
Repealing the 2002 FD
Amended by directive 2024/1712 of 13/6/2024 (transposition 15/7/2026)
GENDER-NEUTRAL CRIMINAL LAW APPROACH
• However: particular vulnerability women
o Feminization of poverty
o Gender discrimination
o Lack of educational/professional opportunities in home countries
• Specific attention to (criminal) status of exploitation in prostitution
o Even then: gender-neutrality important
o Also: male/boys prostitution
o Gender: false rationale for criminalization clients of prostitution?
• THB problem expanded from sexual to labour sphere
o Significant number of male victims
4
