Abstract
This study, funded under the European Commission’s Prevention and Fight against Crime (ISEC) initiative, has been carried out as part of the project ‘Stop Traffick: Tackling demand for sexual services of trafficked women and girls’. The research will inform strategies to reduce demand for the services of trafficked women and girls in the five participating countries (Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Bulgaria and Lithuania).
This evidence base will influence the production of a toolkit of products and activities to:
- Raise awareness among buyers and potential buyers of services delivered by victims of human trafficking in the sex industry
- Reduce the demand for purchase of sexual services
The initiating partner, the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI), led this project in collaboration with the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF), Klaipeda Social and Psychological Service Centre (KSPSC) in Lithuania, the Mediterranean Institute for Gender Studies (MIGS) in Cyprus and the Multicultural Women’s Association of Finland (MONIKA).
This report analyses and assesses efficient approaches to discourage demand for the services provided by victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, based on a greater understanding of experiences, attitudes and motivations of the people who purchase sex. We wanted to gather sufficient knowledge to inform interventions linked with the decision to purchase sex and, in particular, to purchase sex from a vulnerable individual who could be a victim of human trafficking.
Available to download: http://www.stoptraffick.ie/resources/