Marcia Lieberman, member of local group 49 since 1976, publicly opposed Amnesty's call for the decriminalization of 'adult consensual sex work.'

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The coordinator of the city’s Amnesty International chapter has been expelled, after nearly 40 years of service, for publicly disagreeing with the group’s stance on decriminalizing sex work.

Marcia Lieberman, a freelance writer and member of local group 49 since 1976, received a certified letter Tuesday morning alerting her that her membership had been revoked, she said. Lieberman faxed a copy of the letter to the Providence Journal.

In the letter, Ann Burroughs, a board member for the global human rights organization, wrote: “Amnesty member leaders are not free to dissent from Amnesty’s policies and positions while identifying themselves as Amnesty volunteer leaders.”

Amnesty International’s policy on sex workers, which was published in May after a vote by chapters internationally, calls for “the decriminalization of all aspects of adult consensual sex work due to the foreseeable barriers that criminalization creates to the realization of the human rights of sex workers.”

Lieberman, and most of the members of the 10-person chapter she coordinated, disagreed with this, she said. They felt the research into the policy was scant and that it would embolden “pimps and johns” who were exploiting “mostly young women and girls.”

“We believe there should be help for people in sex work,” Lieberman explained in an interview. “But we did not believe it should be legal for customers to buy sex.”

Lieberman first spoke out against the leadership in a Sept. 2015 letter to the editor published in the New York Times. Days later she received a phone call from David Rendell, the group’s Northeastern representative, and an email from Becky Farrar, a membership chairwoman, warning her that members are not allowed to speak against policies in public. If she continued, she was told, this could lead to expulsion.

In Dec. 2016, Lieberman helped organize an annual write-a-thon covered by The Providence Journal. Members came together to write to government officials about “prisoners of conscience,” or people who have been persecuted for nonviolent actions, Lieberman said.

At this event, Providence Police Captain Michael E. Correia spoke about how his department treats prostitutes as victims, rather than as perpetrators of a crime. A former sex worker also spoke at this meeting. Lieberman wrote a letter to the editor of The Providence Journal on Dec. 14 reiterating her opposition to the international organization’s stance and in support of the policy of local police.

Both Lieberman's quote in the write-a-thon article, and her comments in the editorial, eventually led to the expulsion, Burroughs wrote in the letter.

"You have acted contrary to the Statute of Amnesty International and our core values and policies," Burroughs wrote in the Dec. 28 letter, delivered Tuesday.

The irony of a local leader of a group dedicated to free speech, being disciplined for speaking out, is not lost on Lieberman, or her membership, she said.

Former AIUSA member Beth Anterni said removing Lieberman is “counterproductive.” She didn’t renew her $25 annual membership in June because she was upset the way Lieberman was treated. Many other members likely will do the same, she said.

“This is someone who has dedicated her life to this work,” said Anterni. “It’s close to her heart.”

Burroughs declined to be interviewed for this story, but issued a statement through Amnesty International's press office: “Recently, our Board of Directors voted to revoke an individual’s membership after nearly two years of working with her to address multiple violations of our policies. We won’t publicly discuss this matter further in order to protect the privacy of the former member involved."

Lieberman has the opportunity to appeal her expulsion, but she is not sure whether she will.

—jtempera@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @jacktemp