Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
| Founded | 1988 |
|---|---|
| Website | http://www.catwinternational.org/ |
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) is an international non-governmental organization opposing human trafficking, prostitution, and other forms of commercial sex.
CATW is rooted in a radical feminist point of view. Its definition of 'trafficking' includes all forms of selling or buying bodies of women or children. CATW opposes a distinction between forced and voluntary prostitution as it sees all forms of prostitution as a violation of the dignity of women and violence against them. In this regard, it is strongly opposed to the perspectives of the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women and the sex workers' rights movement. Aside from prostitution, CATW is opposed to "pornography, sex tourism, and mail-order bride selling." On its website, CATW categorizes sexual exploitation as including sexual harassment, rape, incest and battery. CATW was set up in 1988.
The coalition’s proposed solution to the problem of human trafficking and sexual exploitation is to decriminalize the selling of sexual services while criminalizing the buying of sexual services, pimping and trafficking. This approach, sometimes referred to as the "Swedish model" or "Nordic model", has been implemented in Sweden, Norway and Iceland, partly as a result of lobbying by CATW-affiliated activists in those countries. CATW views these laws as successful in combating prostitution and human trafficking and lobbies for the replication of such legislation elsewhere.
CATW also claims to “reject state policies and practices that channel women into conditions of sexual exploitation" … and “provide education and employment opportunities that enhance women’s worth and status”.
CATW was founded 1988 as the outcome of a conference titled "Trafficking in Women" organized by several American feminist groups including Women Against Pornography and WHISPER. The leaders of CATW, such as founder Dorchen Leidholdt and co-chair (as of 2007) Norma Ramos were originally leaders of Women Against Pornography.
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