[Selected Issues]: Sexual offending, prostitution
and human trafficking
legal dimension
domestic, European, international and comparative criminal,
administrative/immigration, social and extraterritorial jurisdiction law
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
EU (Council, EC, EP, Europol, etc.), Council of Europe, OSCE, ILO, UN
multi-actor perspective
police, labour and social inspection services, prosecution services,
immigration services, border guards, tax administrations, city
administrations, neighbourhoods, NGOs, health and welfare sector, ISPs
Trafficking in human beings
Legal approaches
Principal legal instruments
UN
- 2000 Trafficking Protocol to UN TOC Convention
- 2000 Smuggling Protocol to UN TOC Convention
- 1950 Convention on THB and exploitation prostitution
1
,CoE
- 2005 Warsaw Convention on THB
EU
- 2002 FD on THB
- 2004 residence permit directive for THB victims
- 2011 directive on THB
repealing the 2002 FD
amended by directive 2024/1712 of 13/6/2024 (transposition
15/7/2026)
1950: issues UN has 2 approaches trafficking with exploitation
Gender-neutral criminal law approach
however: particular vulnerability women
• feminization of poverty
• gender discrimination
• lack of educational/professional opportunities in home countries
Specific attention to (criminal) status of exploitation in
prostitution
• even then: gender-neutrality important
• also: male/boys prostitution
• gender: false rationale for criminalization clients of prostitution?
THB problem expanded from sexual to labour sphere
• significant number of male victims
2
,Criminal laws tries to formulate it in a gender neutral setting
Women are facing vulnerabilities
Criminal law tries to
formulate it in a gender
neutral setting
Women are facing
vunlerabilities
Gender discrimination
Criminalization of seks
work: women are more
featuring in the seks
industry then men
or transgenders.
Some policies of
countries are entirely
gender based: Swedish
model à abilitionist,
3
, paternalist old
convention model.
Impact of prostitution on
women is inaccaptable
on
societal level.
They are denying the
realities of male and
boys prostitution.
Prevelance being higher,
prevalence being bigger
that’s why we look at
women.
Criminal law tries to
formulate it in a gender
neutral setting
4
and human trafficking
legal dimension
domestic, European, international and comparative criminal,
administrative/immigration, social and extraterritorial jurisdiction law
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
EU (Council, EC, EP, Europol, etc.), Council of Europe, OSCE, ILO, UN
multi-actor perspective
police, labour and social inspection services, prosecution services,
immigration services, border guards, tax administrations, city
administrations, neighbourhoods, NGOs, health and welfare sector, ISPs
Trafficking in human beings
Legal approaches
Principal legal instruments
UN
- 2000 Trafficking Protocol to UN TOC Convention
- 2000 Smuggling Protocol to UN TOC Convention
- 1950 Convention on THB and exploitation prostitution
1
,CoE
- 2005 Warsaw Convention on THB
EU
- 2002 FD on THB
- 2004 residence permit directive for THB victims
- 2011 directive on THB
repealing the 2002 FD
amended by directive 2024/1712 of 13/6/2024 (transposition
15/7/2026)
1950: issues UN has 2 approaches trafficking with exploitation
Gender-neutral criminal law approach
however: particular vulnerability women
• feminization of poverty
• gender discrimination
• lack of educational/professional opportunities in home countries
Specific attention to (criminal) status of exploitation in
prostitution
• even then: gender-neutrality important
• also: male/boys prostitution
• gender: false rationale for criminalization clients of prostitution?
THB problem expanded from sexual to labour sphere
• significant number of male victims
2
,Criminal laws tries to formulate it in a gender neutral setting
Women are facing vulnerabilities
Criminal law tries to
formulate it in a gender
neutral setting
Women are facing
vunlerabilities
Gender discrimination
Criminalization of seks
work: women are more
featuring in the seks
industry then men
or transgenders.
Some policies of
countries are entirely
gender based: Swedish
model à abilitionist,
3
, paternalist old
convention model.
Impact of prostitution on
women is inaccaptable
on
societal level.
They are denying the
realities of male and
boys prostitution.
Prevelance being higher,
prevalence being bigger
that’s why we look at
women.
Criminal law tries to
formulate it in a gender
neutral setting
4
