The Global Fund for Women recently granted The Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) funding to conduct research on the statutes on trafficking in women for sexual exploitation in Cyprus.  The study will continue research begun in a 2007 report entitled “Mapping the Realities of Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation in Cyprus.” The 2007 report, which was conducted by MIGS with the support of the National Machinery for Women’s Rights, examined sex trafficking in Cyprus and recommended topics for further study.  One such topic was the demand side of sex trafficking.  The new study is an attempt to address questions about the demand for sex trafficking that the 2007 report left unanswered. 

The report found that although the Cyprus has passed “relatively acceptable” legislation in an attempt to eliminate sex trafficking, the laws have not been effectively implemented.  The report stressed that as of 2007, Cyprus did not comply with the minimum international standards for the elimination of sex trafficking.  The report also suggested that the policies and attitudes of the Cypriot government purposely ignore and even encourage trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Cyprus. 

The 2007 report outlined a plan to eliminate sex trafficking within Cyprus.  It called for the government to eliminate “artiste” visas by which victims of sex trafficking enter the country for the sole purpose of working in the sex industry.  According to the report, numerous policies regarding the artiste visa indicate the government’s tolerance of the importation of women for the purpose of working in the sex industry as long as Cypriot women are not involved.

The report also called on Cyprus to focus on implementing laws already in place, and made several suggestions to improve those laws. For example, the report highlighted the failure of the most recent bill on trafficking to include a clause stating that the consent of victims is irrelevant. 

The report also called on Cyprus to address the root causes of trafficking and identified those causes as poverty, gender inequality, and the demand for sexual services in host countries.  

Compiled from: “Trafficking in Women for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation in Cyprus,” The Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (9 April 2009); “Mapping the Realities of Trafficking in Women for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Cyprus,” The Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (October 2007).