Prostitution must be urgently recognised as a system of violence, exploitation and abuse, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, said today. Prostitution reduces women and girls to mere commodities and perpetuates a system of discrimination and violence that hinders their ability to achieve true equality, Alsalem said in a report to the Human Rights Council. She also rejected the term "sex work" as it invisibilizes the harms of prostitution.