Victims not criminals

The White Paper entitled Towards A Better And More Expeditious Administration Of Justice states that Maltese society "has become more anxious with regard to the alarming rise in offences connected with prostitution".

Maltese society knows very little about the United Nations Convention on Trafficking of Human Beings and its subsequent protocols, in particular the Palermo Protocol (2000) which Malta has signed and ratified and which establishes obligations that go far beyond increasing penalties to trafficked women, men or children who are victims of prostitution.

There may be doubt as to how far prostitution is voluntary. On what criteria will the White Paper be able to decide if a particular case of prostitution is voluntary?

According to the Palermo Protocol, "trafficking in persons" means "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation includes, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs".

The White Paper refers to the increase of trafficking for sex exploitation as a "phenomenon" of "fashion". This comment utterly fails to explain that the increase of trafficking for sex exploitation is the result of the economic crisis in Eastern European countries following the fall of Communism, among others, and not of "fashion". This involves international big business that makes money out of the desperate situations of individuals living in utter poverty and who leave their country in an attempt to find a better life. We should therefore be more preoccupied about the violation of their rights as human beings rather than our country's "reputation".

Both justification and amendments proposed in the White Paper are far from being in line with the UN Convention on Trafficking of Human Beings and the Palermo Protocol which stress that "trafficking victims should be better protected than in the past". The protocol obliges "nations to consider immigration laws permitting victims of trafficking to remain on their territory, temporarily or permanently. Governments are to give housing, education and care to child victims in governmental custody. Victims are to be informed about relevant court and other proceedings against offenders and ensure victims' privacy and victims are to be assisted to seek compensation for damages, including fines, penalties or forfeited proceeds as well as restitution from offender".

The amendments in the White Paper also state that anyone "who is found to be present in streets or other places where it is known that activities connected with prostitution occur and who is dressed in a provocatively indecent manner shall be guilty of this offence without the need of proof of other external actions". How is the law going to interpret "provocatively indecent" as this phrase is both vague and subjective and the fashion being what it is individuals can be currently seen walking up and down Republic Street in Valletta wearing practically the same type of attire?

Every human being has a right before the law to defend herself/himself no matter what the case may be. Moreover, this amendment will only serve for such activities to "go underground" and it will be even more difficult to help "victims" of prostitution to get out of the clutches of highly organised international criminals. The White Paper makes no distinction between trafficked individuals for sex exploitation and other prostitutes. Nor does it take into consideration other places, such as privately owned yachts and hotels where sex exploitation of trafficked victims is becoming more and more big business.

The White Paper refers to chapter 63 of our laws entitled White Slave Trafficking (Prohibition) Ordinance 1930. How far have Malta's laws been harmonised with the UN Convention and the Palermo Protocol and to what extent has Malta implemented them? There is not one single reference to these treaties!

Mrs Attard is vice-president of the National Council of Women and member of the EESC executive committee.