Debates Around Sex Trade Reform, Decriminalizing Prostitution, and the Fight Against Trafficking

February 11, 2022

We would all want to see a world free of violence, harm, and exploitation. But how we go about it, we don’t always agree on. There’s widespread agreement in the anti-trafficking movement that we have to address the social determinants that make people vulnerable, such as housing insecurity, poverty, discrimination. But one thing anti-human trafficking experts remain deeply divided on is the spectrum of legal stances regarding commercial sex — such as questions of legalizing or decriminalizing prostitution, sex trade reform, and how to draw the line between voluntary sex work, exploitation, and trafficking.