56th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls

Mr. President,

My Delegation appreciates the Special Rapporteur’s insightful Report on “prostitution and violence against women and girls”. A disturbing read, her work exposes the harsh reality of prostitution and accurately frames it as an egregious violation of the dignity and fundamental human rights of women and girls.

Prostitution reduces people, typically women and girls, to mere objects to be sexually violated and it normalizes the commodification of human persons. Pope Francis often describes prostitution as “a wound to the collective consciousness”, condemning as “a disease of humanity” any attempt to exploit a woman as a commodity, to be used and thrown away. [1]  

Prostitution should never be viewed as “dignified” work. It is rather an abuse committed against those women and girls, who often find themselves in situations of poverty and of great vulnerability, and feel as if they have no other options. Those who take advantage of such victims, such as crime syndicates, human traffickers and others, tragically treat these women merely as “an inexhaustible source of illegal and shameful profit”[2]. It is worth underlining that today’s lack of values and societal ethics, as well as the culture of rampant consumerism, also provide a breeding ground for such abuse, which is forged from many links: the women, often victims of poverty, deception and exploitation; the men who ‘purchase’ such acts, the exploiters and traffickers, etc.

Mr. President,

When the common good is confused with an absolute freedom of choice and with the pursuit of exclusive individualist interests, human dignity is endangered and distorted. A profound poverty of values and relationships is then created, which also erodes the social fabric and has deleterious effects on families. 

There is a pressing need for States not only to pass laws which effectively combat this offense to women’s dignity, but also, as the Special Rapporteur rightly points out[3], to provide practical support for victims of prostitution and to address the underlying causes of such violence.

Catholic Religious Congregations have a long history of courageously and compassionately accompanying those trapped in prostitution systems in different parts of the world and supporting them to exit these systems and rebuild their lives.

Mr. President,

In the context of a continued and widespread growth in the commodification and exploitation of women and girls, with prostitution as one such example, my Delegation remains also concerned with the increasing prominence and use of surrogacy^[4] and in this regard would like to ask whether you might consider exploring this practice in the course of your work.

Thank you, Mr. President.