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Since 2009, March 4 has been designated as the World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation. Every year on this day, hundreds of thousands of activists, community members, and leaders around the globe recognize the importance of combating this heinous violation of human rights and reaffirm their commitment to fight it and expand services and protections for survivors.
What the Law Says: Defining Sexual Exploitation
In international law, “sexual exploitation” is defined as any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including – but not limited to monetarily, socially, or politically from the sexual profiting exploitation of another.
The Scale of the Crisis: Millions Trapped Worldwide
According to the International Labour Organization, close to 5 million people annually, predominantly women, are victims of forced sexual exploitation. Children comprise more than a fifth of all victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Male individuals are not immune either a significant number of boys and young men get trapped in sexual exploitation as well. Members of the LGBT community are especially vulnerable due to stigma and lack of specialized services.
A Gendered Crime Rooted in Inequality
While understanding that sexual exploitation can affect any individual, we recognize that this grave violation of human rights – often amounting to the crime of human trafficking – is gendered and rooted in structural discrimination and inequalities.
CEDAW’s Landmark Recognition of Gender-Based Trafficking
We support the General Recommendation on Trafficking of Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration, adopted by the CEDAW Committee on 6 November 2020. It acknowledged that widespread trafficking in women and girls persists because of a lack of appreciation of the gender dimensions of trafficking, which leaves women and girls exposed to different types of exploitation, including sexual exploitation.
Holding Perpetrators Accountable Not Victims
The CEDAW Committee’s affirmation that trafficking in women and girls is rooted in sex-based discrimination and is a form of gender-based violence and consequently a function of abuse of male power and privilege – is critical to ensuring that responsibility and accountability is placed on perpetrators, and not on women and girls whose rights are being violated and need to be supported to exit sexual exploitation.
The Demand That Fuels the Market
Across all societies, persisting norms and stereotypes regarding male domination, and their control and power over women and girls, enforce patriarchal gender roles and male sexual entitlement which generate the demand.
Governments Must Address Root Causes and Demand
We support the CEDAW Committee’s analysis and recommendation, which encourages governments to address underlying structural gender and socio-economic inequalities that make women and girls vulnerable to exploitation. We also applaud the committee’s call on governments to address the demand that fuels the criminal market of human beings for sexual exploitation.
Key Messages of the World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation
Since 2009, March 4 has been recognized annually as the World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation, focusing on raising awareness about sexual abuse, trafficking, and the protection of victims. The initiative seeks to combat the trafficking of women and children, with reports estimating that the vast majority of victims are women and children.
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