scholarly journals Sex in the Shadow of the Law: Regulating Sex Work and Human Trafficking in Singapore

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben CHAPMAN-SCHMIDT
Keyword(s):  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Red Light ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Trafficking In Persons ◽  
Sex Worker ◽  
Recent Increase ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis paper uses Singapore as a case study in how the international anti-trafficking movement has influenced the regulation of sex work. In doing this, it explores the various historical, geographical, and socio-legal factors which have shaped Singapore’s system of regulation. It then presents the contemporary composition of the regulation of sex work in Singapore: a system of informal rules and protections hidden in the shadow of formal legal institutions. Finally, it analyses the impact of the international anti-trafficking movement, with specific emphasis on the American Trafficking in Persons Report, on Singapore’s regulation of sex work. It suggests that the recent increase of police raids on red light districts is aimed primarily at image control, and that these raids are undermining a functioning regulatory system. It concludes by suggesting that to improve upon its existing regulatory system, Singapore should focus on eliminating sex worker stigma and improving the rights of migrant workers.

scholarly journals The Impact of Human Trafficking in ASEAN: Singapore as a Case-Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaya ANIL KUMAR
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Trafficking In Persons ◽  
Contentious Issue ◽  
Asean Member ◽  
Enforcement Mechanisms ◽  
Trafficking Victims ◽  
The Impact

AbstractSoutheast Asia remains a notorious hotbed for human trafficking. The seriousness of the problem has led to the emergence of various initiatives to combat human trafficking. This paper seeks to address why human trafficking in Southeast Asia remains a contentious issue despite the various initiatives put in place for its eradication. ASEAN Member States, including Singapore, can only resolve the current inertia when it comes to combatting trafficking-in-persons (TIP) by adopting a multidimensional, and multistakeholder approach to the problem. Within Singapore, it is recommended that the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act should be amended such that it provides greater protection for all types of trafficking victims. At the regional level, there is a need for greater collaboration and co-ordination amongst ASEAN bodies in tackling human trafficking, which must be accompanied by comprehensive monitoring, compliance, and enforcement mechanisms.

scholarly journals The Impact of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) on the Health and Social Needs of Sex Workers in Singapore

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rayner Kay Jin Tan ◽  
Vanessa Ho ◽  
Sherry Sherqueshaa ◽  
Wany Dee ◽  
Jane Mingjie Lim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Sex Worker ◽  
Permanent Resident ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

AbstractWe evaluated the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the sex work industry and assessed how it has impacted the health and social conditions of sex workers in Singapore. We conducted a sequential exploratory mixed methods study amidst the COVID-19 pandemic from April to October 2020, including in-depth interviews with 24 stakeholders from the sex work industry and surveyor-administered structured surveys with 171 sex workers. COVID-19 had a substantial impact on sex workers' income. The illegality of sex work, stigma, and the lack of work documentation were cited as exclusionary factors for access to alternative jobs or government relief. Sex workers had experienced an increase in food insecurity (57.3%), housing insecurity (32.8%), and sexual compromise (8.2%), as well as a decrease in access to medical services (16.4%). Being transgender female was positively associated with increased food insecurity (aPR = 1.23, 95% CI [1.08, 1.41]), housing insecurity (aPR = 1.28, 95% CI [1.03, 1.60]), and decreased access to medical services (aPR = 1.74, 95% CI [1.23, 2.46]); being a venue-based sex worker was positively associated with increased food insecurity (aPR = 1.46, 95% CI [1.00, 2.13]), and being a non-Singaporean citizen or permanent resident was positively associated with increased housing insecurity (aPR = 2.59, 95% CI [1.73, 3.85]). Our findings suggest that COVID-19 has led to a loss of income for sex workers, greater food and housing insecurity, increased sexual compromise, and reduced access to medical services for sex workers. A lack of access to government relief among sex workers exacerbated such conditions. Efforts to address such population health inequities should be implemented.

scholarly journals Using Global Migration Law to Prevent Human Trafficking

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 147-152
Author(s):  
Janie A. Chuang
Keyword(s):  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Trafficking In Persons ◽  
Labor Trafficking ◽  
Global Migration ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
International Laws ◽  
Migration Law

Our understanding of human trafficking has changed significantly since 2000, when the international community adopted the first modern antitrafficking treaty—the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Trafficking Protocol). Policy attention has expanded beyond a near-exclusive focus on sex trafficking to bring long-overdue attention to nonsexual labor trafficking. That attention has helped surface how the lack of international laws and institutions pertaining to labor migration can enable—if not encourage—the exploitation of migrant workers. Many migrant workers throughout the world labor under conditions that do not qualify as trafficking yet suffer significant rights violations for which access to protection and redress is limited. Failing to attend to these “lesser” abuses creates and sustains vulnerability to trafficking.

scholarly journals Government Institution Collaboration In Efforts To Handling Criminal Acts Of Human Trafficking In Indonesia Case Study: Literature Study For The Area Of East Nusa Tenggara Province

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-138
Author(s):  
Tunggal Bayu Laksono ◽  
Maidah Purwanti
Keyword(s):  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Trafficking In Persons ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
Government Institution

Trafficking in persons is a criminal act of organized crime that occurs internationally. Indonesia, as one of the countries with the fourth largest population, has experienced this crime. One of the provinces that is the center of this biggest crime is East Nusa Tenggara. In this case, the Indonesian government through existing state institutions coordinates to eliminate the crime of trafficking in persons. Immigration as one of the agencies that deals with immigration traffic problems plays a major role in efforts to deal with the Crime of Trafficking in Persons. Coordination between one party and another is carried out by the provincial government of East Nusa Tenggara. However, improving coordination is a key point of success in handling the Crime of Trafficking in Persons. This research was conducted by conducting a literature case study which aims to find out more about the crime in question. This writing is done with a descriptive research method by describing the research results in a case study literature from various literatures used by the author.

scholarly journals Of Raids and Returns: Sex work movement, police oppression, and the politics of the ordinary in Sonagachi, India

2019 ◽  
pp. 127-139
Author(s):  
Simanti Dasgupta
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Red Light ◽  
State Violence ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
Sex Worker ◽  
Labour Rights ◽  
Red Light District

Drawing on ethnographic work with Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), a grassroots sex worker organisation in Sonagachi, the iconic red-light district in Kolkata, India, this paper explores the politics of the detritus generated by raids as a form of state violence. While the current literature mainly focuses on its institutional ramifications, this article explores the significance of the raid in its immediate relation to the brothel as a home and a space to collectivise for labour rights. Drawing on atyachar (oppression), the Bengali word sex workers use to depict the violence of raids, I argue that they experience the raid not as a spectacle, but as an ordinary form of violence in contrast to their extraordinary experience of return to rebuild their lives. Return signals both a reclamation of the detritus as well as subversion of the state’s attempt to undermine DMSC’s labour movement.

scholarly journals HARMONIZATION OF ASEAN LAWS ON PROTECTION OF MIGRANT WORKERS AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-108
Author(s):  
Zainal Amin Ayub ◽  
Zuryati Mohammed Yusoof
Keyword(s):  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
National Level ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
New Era ◽  
Asean Country ◽  
Asean Countries

The realization of ASEAN Community 2015 opens a hope of a new era for migrant workers amongst its member countries. The hope is on the comprehensive legal protection for migrant workers against injustice as well as trafficking in the ASEAN Communities. This article aims to looks into the legal framework within few ASEAN countries that provides protection for migrant workers against injustice and human trafficking, and the available recourse to justice for them in case they become the victim of human trafficking. Malaysia becomes the case study as lesson learnt. Doctrinal methodology is adopted in this article. It is found that, in regards to protection of migrant workers, despite the establishment of ASEAN Community 2015, the laws on this regard are scattered. A few members of ASEAN Community are reluctant to embed the protection of migrant workers into their national laws. Also, it is found that ASEAN country like Malaysia has the laws at national level to curb human trafficking of migrant workers. However, though the laws seem to be comprehensive, the effectiveness of its implementation and enforcement of the laws are yet to be seen. It is suggested that the laws on protection of migrant workers to be harmonized and standardised between members of ASEAN Community and the cooperation within members of ASEAN should be enhanced at every level.

scholarly journals The impact of theological foundations of restorative justice for the human rights protections of North Korean stateless women as victims of human trafficking

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
I Sil Yoon
Keyword(s):  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Moral Injury ◽  
Social Structural ◽  
Theological Foundations ◽  
The Face ◽  
Justice Model ◽  
The Impact

Restorative justice, with its most prominent characteristic being rebuilding social relationships among victims, perpetrators and the community that was damaged by a crime, has been proposed as an alternative to the traditional retributive justice model to treat criminal acts. Both secular and religious groundings exist for restorative justice, and religious theorists have developed theological groundings for restorative justice based on scripture and other sources. In this article, I will explore how a theologically grounded restorative justice model, focusing on Christopher Marshall’s theological exposition of restorative justice, can contribute to the thought and action of Christians and the larger public in the face of the moral injury caused by human trafficking. I will address how this model can also contribute to social structural change. In my analysis, I will employ a case study of North Korean stateless women who reside in China and who are victims of human trafficking.

scholarly journals Tinjauan Yuridis Terhadap Tindak Pidana Perdagangan Orang Oleh Penyedia Jasa Pekerja Seks Komersial (Studi Putusan Nomor 741/Pid.Sus/2016/PN. Mdn)

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-188
Author(s):  
Andreas Teguhta Kaban ◽  
Aulia Rosa Nasution ◽  
Ridho Mubarak
Keyword(s):  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Trafficking In Persons ◽  
Sex Worker ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
Women Trafficking ◽  
Sexual Services

The crime of trafficking in persons (human trafficking) is a very complex crime so it is difficult to eradicate. However, attention to trafficking in persons is more focused on women as vulnerable groups in this discussion (women trafficking). The purpose of this study is to see more clearly that there is still a link between the crime of commercial sex worker service providers with the crime of trafficking in persons. The method of approach that the authors take in this research is descriptive qualitative. The underlying factors are economic, family, religious, lack of awareness, the desire to get rich quickly. The legal provisions in Law Number 21 of 2007 concerning the Criminal Act of Trafficking in Persons have been supplemented with implementing regulations, namely Government Regulation Number 9 of 2008 concerning Procedures and Mechanisms for Integrated Services for Witnesses and / or Victims of Trafficking in People in Article 1 paragraph 1 and Presidential Regulation No. 69/2008 concerning the Prevention and Handling of Criminal Acts of Trafficking in Persons Article 4. Legal Analysis that the Defendant is proven guilty of committing a crime "intentionally as a livelihood or habit of committing or facilitating obscene acts with others" and the Defendant has become a pimp by providing women who are trafficked for sexual services so that the Defendant benefits from these actions.

scholarly journals PENGATURAN DAN PERLINDUNGAN HUKUM TENAGA KERJA MIGRAN LINTAS NEGARA DALAM PERSPEKTIF HUKUM INTERNASIONAL

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 1275
Author(s):  
Josep Robert Khuana
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Foreign Workers ◽  
International Labor Organization ◽  
Trafficking In Persons ◽  
International Convention ◽  
Women And Children

Tujuan dari penelitian ini untuk mengetahui dan menganalisis perlindungan hukum bagi tenaga kerja WNI yang bekerja di luar negeri perspektif hukum nasional dan hukum internasional. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode penelitian hukum normatif, dengan menggunakan pendekatan perundang-undangan dan pendekatan kasus, norma-norma hukum/kaidah-kaidah yang berkaitan dengan permasalahan hukum yang dibahas, dilengkapi dengan kasus-kasus yang terjadi saat ini. Adapun hasil yang diperoleh dari penelitian ini adalah perdagangan manusia merupakan isu Hak Asasi Manusia dalam masyarakat intemasional yang berkembang dengan fokus permasalahan prostitusi yang melibatkan perempuan dan anak-anak, seiring dengan berjalannya waktu, perkembangan jaman serta meningkatnya permintaan, perdagangan manusia tidak lagi berpusat dalam bidang prostitusi, tetapi juga digunakan dalam bentuk praktek-praktek kerja paksa, perbudakan serta penjualan/pemindahan organ-organ tubuh. Dalam upaya mengatur perlindungan buruh migran, majelis umum PBB melalui Resolusi No. 45/158 di New York pada 18 Desember 1990 membuat payung hukum dengan mengeluarkan International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Dalam upaya pelaksanaan perlindungan hukum terhadap tenaga kerja migran, PBB melalui International Labour Organization (ILO) mengeluarkan konvensi-konvensi yang berkaitan dengan perlindungan buruh migran. Upaya menanggulangi maraknya kasus perdagangan manusia yang tak lepas kaitannya dalam upaya perlindungan buruh migran Indonesia berkomitmen untuk melaksanakan Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children dan menerbitkan Undang-Undang Nomor 21 Tahun 2007 tentang Pemberantasan Tindak Pidana Perdagangan Orang (UU PTPPO). The purpose of this study is to find out and analyze the legal protection of Indonesian citizens working abroad from the perspective of national and international law. The research method used is a normative legal research method, using legal approaches and case approaches based on laws and regulations, norms of law / rules relating to legal issues discussed, are equipped with cases which is happening now.The results obtained from this research, human trafficking is a Human Rights issue in the evolving international community with the focus of prostitution issues involving women and children, as time goes on, the times of development and increased demand, human trafficking is no longer centered in the field prostitution, but also used in the form of forced labor, slavery and sale /removal of organs. In an effort to protect the protection of foreign workers, the UN General Assembly through Resolution No. 45/158 in New York on 18 December 1990 made a legal umbrella by issuing the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. In an effort to implement legal protection against foreign workforce, the United Nations through the International Labor Organization (ILO) issues conventions related to the protection of foreign workers. The efforts address the widespread human trafficking case in Indonesian migrant workers' protection is committed to implementing Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and to issue Law Number 21 Year 2007 on the Eradication of Trafficking in Persons.

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