ON AUGUST 11th Amnesty International, a human rights charity, announced its support for decriminalising prostitution between consenting adults. Laws over prostitution differ by country: in Britain the sale of sex is legal, but pimping and brothels are not, while in America it is illegal in all states but Nevada. Increasingly, however, human rights campaigners are calling for it to be decriminalised, as it is in several European countries. Amnesty’s recommendation follows on from similar ones made by the World Health Organisation and UNAIDS. Is decriminalising sex work a good idea or not? Amnesty’s decision has found fierce opposition: a letter from the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, an NGO, signed by a few former sex workers and actors including Meryl Streep and Lena Dunham argues that it “will in effect support a system of gender apartheid”. Those opposed to decriminalisation argue that prostitution as a trade inevitably leads to the trafficking of vulnerable women: the letter from the coalition says that since sex work was legalised in Germany the number of women trafficked to the country has boomed and that it has become the “Bordello of Europe”. Rather than prosecute women for selling sex, many think that the “Swedish model”, which made buying sex illegal in 1999, is one which should be followed. Norway, Iceland and France have adopted similar models, and the European Parliament has championed it. The Swedish model attempts to wipe out prostitution by reducing demand.

But it is not completely clear that the Swedish model has worked. Those who support decriminalisation—which includes this newspaper, along with many sex workers—point to the fact that pushing prostitution underground can have ugly consequences. Violence against prostitutes can go unpunished, as women may be less likely to go to the police if they are considered to be at the margin of the law. Street work, which had declined in Sweden, increased again after the law was passed, putting many women in more danger than before. Prostitutes may also be less likely to seek medical advice. When Rhode Island accidentally decriminalised prostitution in 2003—a legal loophole from 1980 was found to only criminalise the sale of sex outdoors—the state did see an increase in the amount of indoor sex work. But, according to one paper, the number of rape offenses also dropped by 31% between 2003 and 2009, when the trade was once again made illegal, while there were 39% fewer cases of female gonorrhoea. Making the purchase of sex between two consenting adults illegal is also deeply illiberal.

Fears over human trafficking and child abuse should not be dismissed lightly. But laws against both exist and should be strictly enforced. And prostitution, even if made illegal, will not be eliminated: old estimates put the value of the trade in America at $14 billion annually (it is now likely to be far higher). Rather than chase the elusive goal of stamping out a trade, the safety of prostitutes who do their work willingly should be made paramount. Countries, as well as human-rights organisations, should look at the evidence.

Dig deeper:

How new technology is changing prostitution (August 2014)

Governments should stop trying to ban prostitution (August 2014)