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Forced labour is a social phenomenon which, due to its unique nature, is difficult to understand, accept and prosecute. Given the unsuccessful attempts to deal with this problem in Poland, and similar experiences in other countries, one has to look for an answer to the question, why is this so? The answer seems obvious: because forced labour is not visible. And it is perhaps because we have a problem understanding the phenomenon itself? The existing legal definition is not particularly helpful in this regard. Therefore, in this two-part article I present a different approach to understanding forced labour and a different definition of the phenomenon. The starting point of this article is the assumption that, in describing forced labour, it is worth moving away from a legal and criminal perspective and looking at this phenomenon in the spirit of humanistic sociology, growing out of the concepts of social pragmatism and symbolic interactionism. The analysis of the reaction of the Polish authorities to the cases of forced labor described in the first article proves that a new perspective is necessary. It turns out that the social system did not take advantage of this unique opportunity and did not learn anything new. A completely new circumstance is the war in Ukraine, which has brought several hundred thousand refugees to Poland, who may also be victims of various forms of exploitation. The new model of analysis of forced labour that is proposed here consists of five elements: exploitation, cognitive façade, cultural taboo, symbolic visibility and subtlety of means of control. It is tempting to hypothesise that the effectiveness of combating forced labour will be greater if we 'see' this crime in a different light than just the "glamour" of traditional slavery.

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According to international human rights standards and European regulations, children who provide paid sexual services are considered victims of the crime of human trafficking and should receive special protection. In the United States, however, such children are also treated as perpetrators of the crime of prostitution and are often arrested. In Europe, there is a non-punishment clause, expressed in Article 8 of the European Union Directive of 2011. Since in the US such a clause does not exist, therefore some states are looking for other ways to protect child victims from arrest. One of the instruments of such protection is the institution of "safe harbor". This legal regulation allows to avoid negative criminal consequences of a violation of the law. Typical for economic and financial regulations, this institution is nowadays used by some states to protect child victims "from law enforcement". The article examines the process of creating legislation relating to children who are exploited in the sex business and who are victims of modern slavery. Analysis of such legislation in Colorado serves as a case study. Despite negative attitudes of some policymakers and part of the society, under pressure from experts and non-governmental organizations, the relevant law was prepared only in 2019. Ultimately, the legislative procedure could be finalized thanks to the agreement between the Republican and Democrat representatives, and the law came into force thanks to the firm stance of a progressive Governor of the state. ; Według międzynarodowych standardów praw człowieka oraz regulacji europejskich dzieci świadczące płatne usługi seksualne są uważane za ofiary przestępstwa handlu ludźmi i powinny otrzymać specjalną ochronę. Natomiast w Stanach Zjednoczonych takie dzieci są traktowane także jak sprawcy przestępstwa prostytucji i często są aresztowane. W Europie obowiązuje klauzula niekaralności, zawarta m.in. w art. 8 dyrektywy Unii Europejskiej z 2011 r. W USA taka klauzula nie istnieje, dlatego niektóre stany poszukują innych sposobów chronienia dzieci-ofiar przed aresztem. Jednym z instrumentów takiej ochrony jest instytucja "bezpiecznej przystani". Jest to regulacja prawna charakterystyczna dla ustawodawstwa Stanów Zjednoczonych, która pozwala uniknąć negatywnych konsekwencji karnych w przypadku naruszenia prawa. Znana z przepisów regulujących kwestie ekonomiczne i finansowe, instytucja ta jest współcześnie wykorzystywana przez niektóre stany do ochrony dzieci-ofiar "przed organami ścigania". W artykule przeanalizowano proces tworzenia ustawodawstwa odnoszącego się do dzieci, które są ofiarami handlu ludźmi i jednocześnie są wykorzystywane w biznesie seksualnym. Jednym ze stanów, podanym tutaj jako przykład, który stosunkowo późno podjął prace nad tego typu legislacją, jest stan Kolorado głównie ze względu na negatywny stosunek decydentów i części społeczności do komercyjnego seksu. Jednak pod naciskiem ekspertów i organizacji pozarządowych w 2019 r.u przyjęto odpowiednią ustawę. Nie obyło się przy tym bez trudności, dlatego warto przedstawić, jak politycy "dorastali" do tej decyzji. Ostatecznie prace legislacyjne mogły zostać sfinalizowane dzięki porozumieniu między przedstawicielami republikanów i demokratów, a ustawa ta weszła w życie dzięki zdecydowanemu stanowisku postępowego gubernatora stanu.

Prostitution has not received the academic interest it deserves in Poland. On the one hand the issue of eroticism and human sexuality is a relatively strong cultural taboo, on the other research on prostitution raises numerous methodological difficulties. The purpose of this article
is to explore two issues. The first is go back to unsatisfactory attempts to define the commercial sex. The second is to look at legal regulations regarding this issue in Poland and several European countries. At the level of sociological reflection, prostitution can be defi ned by referring to the elements of a specifi c interaction between two people, one of whom offers paid sex and the other of whom is interested in using such a service. Prostitution is defined completely differently in law and in several European countries, for example in Great Britain and Austria there are interesting legal provisions. But I propose my own definition of prostitution or sex work in which the eight elements are combined. As far as legal regulations of prostitution are concern four categories of countries can be mentioned in Europe. From these in which the provision and purchase of sexual services is prohibited, to those where prostitution is legal and the professional status of the person engaging in it is regulated. There is also variety of perceptions of prostitution as a social phenomenon and different typologies of policies implemented by individual countries. But it appears that further studies on sex business and prostitution as a social phenomenon are needed.

Prostitution has not received the academic interest it deserves in Poland. On the one hand the issue of eroticism and human sexuality is a relatively strong cultural taboo, on the other research on prostitution raises numerous methodological diffi culties. The purpose of this article is to explore two issues. The fi rst is go back to unsatisfactory attempts to defi ne the commercial sex. The second is to look at legal regulations regarding this issue in Poland and several European countries. At the level of sociological reflection, prostitution can be defi ned by referring to the elements of a specifi c interaction between two people, one of whom offers paid sex and the other of whom is interested in using such a service. Prostitution is defi ned completely differently in law and in several European countries, for example in Great Britain and Austria there are interesting legal provisions. But I propose my own definition of prostitution or sex work in which the eight elements are combined. As far as legal regulations of prostitution are concern four categories of countries can be mentioned in Europe. From these in which the provision and purchase of sexual services is prohibited, to those where prostitution is legal and the professional status of the person engaging in it is regulated. There is also variety of perceptions of prostitution as a social phenomenon and different typologies of policies implemented by individual countries. But it appears that further studies on sex business and prostitution as a social phenomenon are needed.