Amnesty International has formally adopted a policy calling for the decriminalization of adult sex work and repeal of most laws around the world controlling prostitution.
The organization’s stance on protecting sex workers is set out in a global program published yesterday that draws on fresh research about the industry in Argentina, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and Norway.
“This policy does not argue that there is a human right to buy sex or a human right to financially benefit from the sale of sex by another person,” Amnesty said.
“Rather, it calls for sex workers to be protected from individuals who seek to exploit and harm them and recognizes that the criminalization of adult consensual sex work interferes with the realization of the human rights of sex workers,” it said.
RISK OF ABUSE
“Sex workers are at heightened risk of a whole host of human rights abuses, including rape, violence, extortion and discrimination,” Amnesty International senior director for law and policy Tawanda Mutasah said.
“Far too often, they receive no, or very little, protection from the law or means for redress. Our policy outlines how governments must do more to protect sex workers from violations and abuse,” Mutasah said.
“Our research highlights their testimony and the daily issues they face. We want laws to be refocused on making sex workers’ lives safer and improving the relationship they have with the police, while addressing the very real issue of exploitation. We want governments to make sure no one is coerced to sell sex, or is unable to leave sex work if they choose to,” Mutasah said.
Laws against soliciting, keeping a brothel, promotion of prostitution, renting premises for the purposes of prostitution, living off the proceeds of sex work and facilitating sex work through the provision of information or assistance can all “result in the imposition of penalties against sex workers themselves for organizing their own sex work and against anyone who assists them,” the report says.
OTHER OFFENSES
Amnesty’s policy also condemns forced labor, child sexual exploitation and human trafficking, which it says should be criminal offenses in every country.
The policy paper is titled “On state obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of sex workers.”
The policy was announced last year, but has now been officially adopted by all of the organizations’ international branches.
As one sex worker in Norway told an Amnesty researcher: “If a customer is bad, you need to manage it yourself to the end. You only call the police if you think you are going to die. If you call the police, you lose everything.”
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