Coalition Against Trafficking in Women

{{Gender}}
The '''Coalition Against Trafficking in Women''' (CATW) is a [[TERF|trans-exclusionary]] and [[Sex worker-exclusionary radical feminism|sex worker-exclusionary radical feminist]] group that promotes {{wpl|carceral feminism}} and a controversial definition of the term trafficking that has been criticized as ideological and overly broad. Its origins are closely associated with the [[Satanic ritual abuse]] moral panic within radical feminist circles of the 1980s. It is a major player in what critics have described as the trafficking hysteria and the hyper-criminalization of sex workers.<ref>JK McGibbon, ''[https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/mcgibbon_jennifer_k_201608_ma.pdf Anti-trafficking and the hyper-criminalization of sex workers]'', University of Georgia, 2016</ref> It has also been criticized for relying on racist stereotypes and for essentializing women with no regard for intersectional discrimination. It also has significant links to [[transphobia|anti-trans]] organizations, with one of its regional branches being a signatory of the [[Women's Declaration International]] manifesto against trans rights.<ref name=Leveille/>

==Views==
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women's views are rooted in [[radical feminism]], and the group thus advocates the view that sex work is a form of violence against women regardless of the circumstances, and promotes an ideological interpretation of the term trafficking that includes all forms of sex work. It is strongly opposed to the perspectives of the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women and the sex workers rights movement. The trafficking narrative promoted by CATW has been linked to the [[Satanic ritual abuse]] moral panic that was promoted by many radical feminists especially in the 1980s and 1990s, including several key figures within CATW.

It has been described as a "neo-abolitionist lobby group" that represents a "carceral feminist anti-trafficking practice that primarily criminalizes, censors, and oppresses the agency, behaviors, and needs of structurally marginalized communities" and that contributes to "essentializing women with racialized and marginalized identities in sex work, with no discursive recognition of intersectional structural inequalities."<ref name=Hu>{{cite journal |last1=Hu |first1=Ran |title=Problematizing the Educational Messaging on Sex Trafficking in the US “End-demand” Movement: The (Mis)Representation of Victims and Anti-Sex Work Rhetoric |journal=Feminist Inquiry in Social Work |date=2021 |volume=37 |issue=3 |doi=10.1177/08861099211058827 |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/08861099211058827}}</ref> 

Alison Murray accused CATW of racism, of using non-participatory research methodologies and of creating an "erotic pathetic stereotype of the Asian prostitute which creates the possibility for middle-class women’s trafficking hysteria."<ref>A Murray, ‘Debt Bondage and Trafficking: Don’t Believe the Hype’ in K Kempadoo and J Doezema (eds), Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance and Redefinition (1998)</ref><ref>Simm, Gabrielle: "[https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AUYrBkIntLaw/2004/6.html#fn21 Negotiating the United Nations Trafficking Protocol: Feminist Debates]", Australian Year Book of International Law</ref>

CATW's former executive director Gunilla Ekberg was featured in the documentary ''The Gender War'' that discussed radical feminism and Satanic ritual abuse panics in Sweden. In the documentary Ekberg threatened journalist Evin Rubar.<ref>{{cite news |title=Experten hotar kritisk reporter |url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/MgnoBE/experten-hotar-kritisk-reporter |access-date=5 April 2024}}</ref>

CATW has collaborated with some of the leading [[transphobia|anti-trans]] groups globally, notably including [[Women's Declaration International]] (WDI). Its regional branch, the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean, is a signatory of the manifesto of Women's Declaration International.<ref>{{cite web |title=Declaration Signatories |url=https://womensdeclaration.com/en/signatures/?page=141 |publisher=[[Women's Declaration International]] |archive-url=https://archive.ph/r26Vl |archive-date=16 October 2022}}</ref><ref name=Leveille>{{cite web |last1=Leveille |first1=Lee |title=Rights For Me, Not For Thee: How Anti-Trans Feminists Took Their Advocacy to the United Nations |url=https://allornone.world/2023/05/26/rights-for-me-not-for-thee-how-anti-trans-feminists-took-their-advocacy-to-the-united-nations/ |access-date=5 April 2024}}</ref> CATW's regional director in Latin America Teresa Ulloa has also appeared as a speaker at WDI events.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mexico |url=https://www.womensdeclaration.com/en/country-info/mexico/ |publisher=[[Women's Declaration International]] |access-date=5 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105183306/https://www.womensdeclaration.com/en/country-info/mexico/ |archive-date=5 November 2022}}</ref> [[Sheila Jeffreys]] has also linked her work with WDI to her work with CATW.<ref name=Leveille/>

On Twitter, CATW amplifies anti-trans talking points and groups. For example, it retweets a report by anti-trans activist [[Reem Alsalem]] that urges states to "ensure that the terms 'women' and 'girls' are only used to describe biological females," promotes rhetoric about "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|sex-based rights]]," disparages trans women as "males" and calls for their exclusion from analyses of violence against women.<ref>[https://x.com/UNSRVAW/status/1942530908419977638 Reem Alsalem]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Sex worker-exclusionary radical feminism]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Feminism]]
[[Category:SWERFs]]
[[Category:TERFs]]

Categories: Feminism, SWERFs, TERFs