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I want to know more about this: "New crimes at EU level include forced marriage, illegal adoption, and exploitation of surrogacy." How are these crimes defined?
Here is a link to the EU directive on trafficking that was passed in 2011, which the new vote will amend:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32011L0036
I will look for the text of the amendments and post them in a minute.
They are definitely not perfect - but they are a step forward and in my opinion it is important that for the first time (I believe) an international body has recognised that trafficking women for exploitation as surrogate mothers is a thing and a real and increasing problem.
Yeah, there was no mention of surrogacy at all in the linked document. And while forced marriage and illegal adoption are mentioned once, they are not defined. Discouraging.
The linked document is the old one that is being amended. I've copied the amendments below. I haven't found a link to them though.
Here are the key amendments (not all of them):
(1) Article 2 is amended as follows:
(a) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:
'3. Exploitation shall include, as a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, including begging, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the exploitation of criminal activities, or the removal of organs, or the exploitation of surrogacy, of forced marriage, or of illegal adoption.'
(b) paragraph 5 is replaced by the following:
'5. When the conduct referred to in paragraph 1 involves a child, it shall be a punishable offence of trafficking in human beings, even if none of the means set forth in paragraph 1 has been used. This paragraph shall not apply to the exploitation of surrogacy as referred to in paragraph 3, unless the surrogate mother is a child.'
We wrote this article a while ago to explain what "exploitation of the prostitution of others" means. It applies to "exploitation of surrogacy" too:
https://nordicmodelnow.org/facts-about-prostitution/fact-cedaw-requires-countries-to-fight-pimping/
So is this phrase "the exploitation of surrogacy, of forced marriage, or of illegal adoption" meant to be understood as "the exploitation that IS surrogacy, forced marriage, or illegal adoption," meaning the practices--not matter how practiced--are exploitation? Or does it mean you just have to be doing these things in some brutal, exploitative fashion?
As the article linked in my previous comment explains, "exploitation of" surrogacy/forced marriage/illegal adoption means third parties profiting or benefiting in some other way from a woman being a surrogate mother who has been coerced into it in some way or whose vulnerability has been exploited, as explained in the text of the directive I linked to in a previous comment. And then the same for forced marriage or illegal adoption.
As I mentioned in my first comment, this is far from perfect - but it is still a recognition that people are profiting from (and making fortunes and building entire industries) on these heinous practices.
On Tuesday, MEPs adopted with 563 in favour, 7 against, and 17 abstentions.
I wish they’d prosecute people using services by trafficked people no matter what. They know so many women involved in prostitution are trafficked and don’t want to be there. It’s a good start though.
We have that law in England and Wales and there have been zero prosecutions under it for the last 5 years.
https://nordicmodelnow.org/facts-about-prostitution/fact-its-illegal-in-england-and-wales-to-buy-sex-from-someone-whos-been-coerced/
https://nordicmodelnow.org/2023/10/24/has-prostitution-effectively-been-decriminalised-in-england-and-wales-while-we-werent-looking/
i wanna know who the fuck voted against it