Amnesty to call for decriminalisation of prostitution

Amnesty International looks set to pass a controversial resolution calling for the decriminalisation of sex work.

Up to 500 members of the international human rights organisation, from across the globe, are meeting in Dublin this weekend for Amnesty's 32nd International Council Meeting. The meeting is a private, biennial event at which all aspects of policy and strategy for the forthcoming four years are discussed.

It last took place in Dublin 26 years ago and will this morning be addressed, at its opening, by President Michael D Higgins.

He is likely to address the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean in a speech titled Campaigning for Human Rights in the Contemporary World.

Although many resolutions will be discussed over the weekend, the one on Amnesty’s policy on sex work is likely to prove the most controversial here. There is an ongoing debate on Government plans to criminalise the purchase of sex without decriminalising most activities associated with sex work and prostitution.

The heads of new Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2014, published in November, contain measures to criminalise the purchase of sex, along the lines of the approach taken in Sweden, and campaigned for here by the Turn Off The Red Light campaign.

Advocates say this approach deters those who purchase sex and reduces the harm to women and girls coerced into prostitution and the sex industry.

Critics, however, say the approach fails to acknowledge the position of those who actively choose to go into the sex industry. They say it will not eliminate the sex industry, will push it further underground, and could further endanger an already vulnerable group.

They are particularly critical that the proposed legislation does not decriminalise soliciting in public, or sex work in brothels, saying women remain vulnerable to prosecution.

Amnesty’s draft policy on sex work, to be voted on by council, states it has been informed “by the findings of a two-year consultation”.

If passed, the nine-point resolution will not change Amnesty International’s policy, but will mean the council calls on the organisation’s international board to adopt a policy calling for the “decriminalisation of sex work”.

The resolution states it is based on the principles of harm-reduction for sex-workers, and gender equality and non-discrimination.

Human rights violation

It says there is a need for states “to not only review and repeal laws that make those who sell sex vulnerable to human rights violation, but also refrain from enacting such laws”.

It says Amnesty’s long-standing position that trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation should be criminalised as a matter of international law stands.

Amnesty’s resolution takes into account, “evidence that some individuals who engage in sex work do so due to marginalisation and limited choices”.

It urges states “to take appropriate measures to realise the economic, social and cultural rights of all people so that no one enters sex work against their will and those who decide to undertake sex work should be able to leave if and when they choose”.