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1 Situation of Sex Workers in the Americas [1] (2025)

handle is hein.peggy/trsja0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Situation of Sex Workers in the Americas Report by the Commissioner for the Rights of Sex Workers of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) April 2025 Summary This report is presented to the Secretary General of the OAS. In it, the Commissioner for the Rights of Sex Workers of the General Secretariat of the OAS, Gloria Careaga-Perez, examines the legal and sociocultural resources available to sex workers for the guarantee of their human rights. Such guarantees are essential for full development; however, it is common for those engaged in sex work to face restrictions on their participation in public life and to experience various forms of violence and discrimination, often accompanied by hostile rhetoric. The absence of clear legal protection places them in a vulnerable position, compounded by stigma and stereotypes that diminish their safety and access to justice. The report concludes with a set of recommendations to States for advancing the legal recognition of sex work and the protection of rights. I. Introduction 1. Debates about sex work are controversial and provoke opposing opinions. It is common to associate sex work with human trafficking or to confuse the two. Similarly, sex work is often automatically equated with sexual exploitation, which does not reflect the realities of commercial sex. 2. It is important to distinguish between sex work, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking. The Palermo Protocol', in its Annex II, Article 3, is very clear in defining human trafficking as: the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring 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. In this context, exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the removal of organs. 3. It is evident that human trafficking involves coercion, as individuals are forced-through threats-to perform work or activities against their will, without the ability to make decisions. In cases of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, individuals are pressured, intimidated, and/or lured through deception into entering the sex trade. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime htsu ress~an o nihrgaffi scki iycr me ersnsev ecio two rnekadZRensou lernenigta-Linar~rtc 1heoun event-n conventiona2gajpjInstnnainkognze rm