Doc. 9003
19 March 2001

Migration connected with trafficking in women and prostitution

Motion for a resolution

presented by Mrs Herczog and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1.       The increasing number of women migrating in the Council of Europe member states is closely connected with such dangerous practices as trafficking in women and prostitution. The reasons for such migration are poverty, discrimination against women, unemployment and lack of education and access to resources, political and economical instability.

2.       The Assembly has on several occasions recalled this problem in its recommendations, in particular in Recommendation 1325 (1997) on traffic in women and forced prostitution in Council of Europe member states and in Recommendation 1450 (2000) on violence against women as well as in Recommendation 1489 (2001) on transit migration in central and eastern Europe.

3.       It has been acknowledged that the migration connected with trafficking in women and prostitution is linked to organised crime, which exploit a gap between the high demand for migrant labour on the one hand, and the diminishing legal channels of migration in Europe on the other.

4.       Female migrants are usually forced to work in the sectors where access to information networks and social support is limited, which exposes them to discrimination, abuse and violence. This requires a strong, coordinated reply by European states to the challenges posed by the interrelation between migration and trafficking in women and prostitution.

5.       The Assembly therefore calls on the member states of the Council of Europe to:

-       improve awareness and understanding of the trafficking practices, taking preventive actions before irregular migration takes place;

-       increase the sanctions against traffickers and persons engaged in prostitution;

-       adopt migration policies toward victims of trafficking and prostitution;

-       ensure the return home and reintegration of migrant women who have been subjected to abuse.

Signed : ¹

Herczog, Hungary, SOC

Aguiar, Portugal, EPP/CD

Castro, Spain, EPP/CD

Cliveti, Romania, SOC

Dromberg, Finland, EDG

Druziuk, Ukraine, UEL

Frimannsdottir, Iceland, SOC

Keltosova, Slovakia, EDG

Kiely, Ireland, LDR

Lopez Gonzalez, Spain, SOC

Neuwirth, France, EDG

Poptodorova, Bulgaria, SOC

Pozza Tasca, Italy, LDR

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group