02/10/2012 - em estrasburgo

ASSEMBLEIA DA REPÚBLI CA
JOSÉ MENDES BOTA
Deputado à Assembleia da República em representação da Região do Algarve
Palácio de S. Bento 1249-068 Lisboa
Telef: 213 917 282 Mail: [email protected]
RELATÓRIO Nº 61
Lisboa, 05/10/2012
ÂMBITO: ASSEMBLEIA PARLAMENTAR DO CONSELHO DA EUROPA
(APCE)
LOCAL: ESTRASBURGO
PARTIDA: 01 de Outubro de 2012
REGRESSO: 03 de Outubro de 2012
OBJECTIVO: Participação na 3ª parte da sessão de 2012 da Assembleia
Parlamentar do Conselho da Europa
No dia 2 de Outubro de 2012, participei numa reunião da Comissão da Igualdade e NãoDiscriminação, durante a qual fiz uma intervenção de apresentação da estrutura do
relatório que irei elaborar sobre “Criminalising the purchase of sex to combat the
trafficking of people for sexual exploitation”, e que consta no anexo A deste relatório.
Seguiu-se um debate, tendo feito uma intervenção final, em resposta às questões
suscitadas.
Fiz ainda uma intervenção defendendo que a moção subordinada ao tema “Tackling
intolerance and discrimination in Europe with a special focus on Christianity” deveria
dar origem a um relatório e não uma simples nota de informação. Submetida a votação,
a posição que defendi mereceu vencimento.
No final do dia, fiz uma intervenção no debate do relatório Stavrositu subordinado ao
tema “Political parties and women’s political representation”, cujo texto integral consta
do Anexo B do presente relatório.
No dia 3 de Outubro de 2012 participei numa reunião da Comissão da Igualdade e NãoDiscriminação, durante a qual teve lugar uma audição sobre o tema “Tackling racismo
in the police”, com a participação de quatro oradores convidados:
- Deborah Glass, do Reino Unido;
- Julien le Gars, da França;
- Chantal Pons-Masouaki, da França ;
- Lanna Hollo, da França.
Seguidamente, na minha qualidade de Relator Geral sobre a Violência Contra as
Mulheres, e de Coordenador Político da Parliamentary Network “Women Free From
Violence”, tive reuniões bilaterais com as seguintes entidades:
- Susanna Huovinen, presidente da Delegação da Finlândia, na APCE;
- Fernand Boden, presidente da Delegação do Luxemburgo, na APCE,
acompanhado dos deputados Lydia Mutsch e Norbert Haupert;
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- Puridur Backman, presidente da Delegação da Islândia, na APCE;
- Battaini-Dragoni, Secretária Geral Adjunta do Conselho da Europa;
- Nursuna Memecan, presidente da Delegação da Turquia, na APCE.
Em todas estas reuniões, dei conta das actividades que estão sendo levadas a efeito pela
Network, e solicitei apoio e envolvimento para as mesmas.
Assembleia da República, 5 de Outubro de 2012
José Mendes Bota
ANEXO A
Criminalising the purchase of sex to combat the trafficking
of people for sexual exploitation
Outline for a report
Rapporteur: Mr Mendes Bota
Introduction
The report is originated by a motion for a resolution tabled by Mr Luca Volonté (Italy,
EPP/CD) and other members.
Trafficking in human beings is a modern form of slavery which the Parliamentary
Assembly and the Council of Europe as a whole are strongly committed to fight. It is a
severe violation of human rights and, as it affects women disproportionately, it
constitutes a major obstacle to gender equality.
All European countries are affected by human trafficking, either as countries of origin,
of transit or of destination. In a large number of cases, human trafficking is perpetrated
for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Victims, again mostly girls and women, are
forcibly or deceptively recruited into the sex industry. A large proportion of sex workers
in European countries are of foreign origin, both from other European and third
countries. The link between human trafficking and sexual exploitation, however, is not
always easy to detect and prove, as victims are often reluctant to report perpetrators to
the police, for fear of the perpetrators themselves or of the risk of deportation.
Legal approaches on prostitution vary widely amongst Council of Europe member
states, ranging from legalisation to criminalisation. Legalisation implies a regulation of
prostitution by the state, notably in the form of provisions on health and safety and
workers’ protection. On the other hand, criminalisation can take the form of
prohibitionism, seeking to ban prostitution by penalising all aspects of it, or of
abolitionism, in which the sale of sex is not punishable but related activities (procuring,
soliciting, advertising) are.
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The strictest form of criminalisation was first introduced in Sweden and it consists of
criminalising the purchase of sex. Clients of prostitutes are sanctioned, but the activity
of selling sex is not considered illegal. Similar legislation was subsequently introduced
in Norway and Iceland.
Aim of the report
The aim of this report is to assess the impact of criminalisation of the purchase of sex on
trafficking in human beings. This will imply an analysis of the various current
legislation on prostitution in Europe and their effects on trafficking.
The report will be articulated as follows:
1.
Trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation in Europe: state of play
2.
Preventing and combating trafficking in human beings in Europe: national
legislation and policies
3.
International obligations on combating trafficking in human beings
4.
Different legal approaches on prostitution: criminalisation and legalisation
5.
Overview of legislation on prostitution in the Council of Europe member states
6.
Impact on trafficking in human beings (different case-studies: Germany and
Sweden)
7.
The point of view of sex-workers organisations
8.
Conclusions and recommendations
ANEXO B
Speech by Mr. Mendes Bota on the debate of the report Stavrositu (doc 13022) on
“Political parties and women’s political representation”
Plenary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Strasbourg, 2nd of October 2012
Mr. President,
Dear Colleagues,
We give for granted to live in countries where voters have a free choice on what
everybody considers there are “free and fair” elections.
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We give for granted to live in countries without opacity, falsification of electoral
protocols, without pressure, violence or intimidation of candidates and voters during an
electoral campaign.
Imagine such democratic paradises with equal access to impartial, independent and
neutral media, with secrecy on the ballot and transparency on political accountability,
where everybody has assured the right to vote, including people with disabilities and
illiterature.
Let’s imagine this is happening in all 47 member Estates of the Council of Europe.
Even if this could happen, and unfortunately is not happening, very hardly we could say
we live in a full democracy.
Maybe we could describe it as an half-democracy, as the access of women to political
representation is far from being fair and balanced.
Parliaments look like mirrors of the political scene on each country. What do we see in
these mirrors? We see that women in 35 of the 47 member Estates of the Council of
Europe count less than 30% of the parliamentary seats.
Surely, we recognize there is not a single equation and a single solution. There are
different paths and speed are different. But we believe, as Mrs. Stavrositu emphasizes in
her relevant report, the bottom neck, this glass ceiling, lives in the heart of most of the
existing political parties in Europe.
Yes! Quotas might be decisive. But we have to say there are countries without imposed
quotas scoring the highest women’s participation, and countries with quotas who did not
achieved the objective of greater gender equality in the political spectrum.
Quotas might not be indispensable, or even might not be sufficient in need of other
complementary measures.
There are voluntary quotas assumed by political parties, and quotas imposed by law.
We find weak sanctions, such as fines, and radical sanctions, as exclusion from electoral
process.
We have weak incentives, as additional subsidies, but let me tell how much I have this
conviction that the strongest incentive of all could be additional broadcasting time
during electoral campaigns for the parties that achieve the best level of gender balance
in their lists of candidates.
But the major problem is inside political parties. A lot of good practices could inspire
them to run to the Gender Equality Prize created by this Assembly, starting by changing
and their candidate selection bodies, usually controlled by men, tending to choose other
men.
Political parties need to attract more women to politics, giving them the opportunity to
be protagonists in equal opportunities such as men.
Women can be promoted by political parties, by creating internal women’s structures,
developing mentoring and training programs, improving women’s media skills, sharing
broadcasting time during campaigns and reconciling political activities with family
responsabilities.
Formal commitments by political parties regarding gender equality are important but
not enough. Political leaders might play a relevant role on gender mainstreaming their
camps.
I do believe talent has no gender, as intelligence has no gender. But equality of
opportunities is far from being achieved by political parties. Imagine how much it could
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be different. Maybe one day, sooner than later, imagination might come true. And halfdemocracy could become a full democracy.
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