The sex industry in particular offers almost no worker's rights, because sex work is not generally recognized as work. Dr. Penelope Saunders, in Vienna to lobby the Commission on behalf of Australian AIDS groups, says legalizing prostitution may help combat trafficking by helping sex workers speak out about mistreatment. In Australia, what is advantageous is that prostitution has been decriminalized, and that means that sex workers can organize to defend their rights, they can join unions, they can establish occupational health and safety guidelines in their workplaces. Saunders says legalization also means that aid organizations have an easier time reaching and helping sex workers who may have been trafficked. But, she adds, it's also important to recognize that trafficking and sex work are not necessarily the same thing.
Domestic workers is another large sector of the community who fall into abusive work situations.
Wijers makes a similar point, and says trafficking occurs in many loosely regulated industries. She says laws which treat trafficking strictly as a sex crime can make life more difficult for migrant workers. If you mix up trafficking, illegal migration, the sex industry, you end up with measures in fact which do not improve the situation of the women concerned, which do not give them more rights, but work out as anti-immigration measures. Like, if we prohibit migrant women to come to Europe, they can't be a victim, so we just close the borders. Wijers says immigration restrictions make it harder for migrant workers in any industry to organize their own travel and working papers.