Sex workers protest for their rights in 2011. Melissa Gira/Flickr. Creative Commons.

This is the second of two letters published on Beyond Trafficking and Slavery in support of Amnesty International's 'Draft Policy on Sex Work'. The first, 'Why decriminalise sex work?' from the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP), was published 30 July. To signal your own support for these initiatives, sign this letter and/or NSWP's petition at change.org. This letter has been simultaneously published on ICRSE's website.

Dear Mr. Shetty and the International Board:

We write to you in regard to Amnesty International’s “Draft Policy on Sex Work”, which will be submitted for consideration at AI’s International Council Meeting in Dublin, 7-11 August 2015.

The International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE) is a sex worker-led network representing 70 organisations led by or working with sex workers in Europe and Central Asia, as well as 150 individuals including sex workers, academics, trade unionists, human rights advocates, women’s rights activists, and LGBT rights activists. ICRSE, its members, and the signatories below are expressing their full support for Amnesty International’s “Draft Policy on Sex Work”. We commend the evidence-based draft policy that has been developed with careful consideration of the diversity of sex workers’ voices and experiences.

We are aware that Amnesty International will be pressured to back down from this position, but we urge you to show courage and tenacity and to adopt this policy. Sex workers worldwide are organising and advocating, often in very precarious and dangerous contexts, for the decriminalisation of sex work. Having Amnesty International take this position would make a significant contribution to promoting sex workers’ human rights and protecting them from discrimination and violence. A non-position by Amnesty International would be seen as an approval of the status quo and—in some national contexts—an implicit support for the criminalisation of paid consensual sex (namely through the criminalisation of clients), causing very grave consequences for the human rights of sex workers.

We, sex workers and those that support our struggle for human rights, know that any form of criminalisation (including criminalisation of clients) directly affects our livelihoods and working conditions. We urge Amnesty International to listen to sex workers and to support full decriminalisation of sex work.

We read with attention the letter addressed to Amnesty International by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW), and would like to respond to some of their key arguments and highlight some of the gaps in the information that they provided.

We are urging Amnesty International to take into consideration the below arguments of the European sex worker movement, stay true to its values and vote in favour of decriminalisation of sex work. As long as sex work is criminalised—directly or indirectly through laws and practices targeting sex workers, clients, or third parties—sex workers will be at risk of police violence, arrests, rape, blackmail and deportations, and will be unable to report abuse committed by clients, third parties and members of the public.

By voting for this policy, Amnesty International will not side with exploiters and clients. On the contrary, Amnesty International will side with the universality of human rights and with sex workers, supporting us in our struggle to access justice and hold accountable those that abuse and attack us.

We hope that Amnesty International will listen to its own research, conducted over two years, to the growing evidence for decriminalisation and to the voices of all the current and former sex workers who are the most affected by laws criminalising sex work.

On the Swedish Model and its implementation

First of all, there is no evidence that the Swedish model reduces the numbers of sex workers or victims of trafficking. The Swedish National Board for Health and Welfare notes:

It is also difficult to discern any clear trend of development: has the extent of prostitution increased or decreased. We cannot give any unambiguous answer to that question. At most, we can discern that street prostitution is slowly returning, after swiftly disappearing in the wake of the law against purchasing sexual services. But as said, that refers to street prostitution, which is the most obvious manifestation. With regard to increases and decreases in other areas of prostitution—the “hidden prostitution”—we are even less able to make any statements.

In their annual report on trafficking, the Swedish police noted that “in 2009 … there were about 90 Thai massage parlours in Stockholm and vicinity, most of which were judged to be offering sexual services for sale. At the turn of 2011/2012, the number of Thai massage parlours in the Stockholm area was estimated to be about 250 and throughout the country about 450”. This is a threefold increase in three years.

There is, however strong evidence that this model is detrimental to sex workers, as it pushes them underground, prevents them from reporting violence, and deprives them of the ability to work together for safety. In particular, we urge you to understand the “The Danger of Seeing the Swedish Model in a Vacuum” and how sex workers are still marginalised and made vulnerable in Sweden itself by the Swedish Model.

Furthermore, we are concerned that the letter provided by CATW purposefully ignores the actual effects of the implementation of the Swedish Model in other countries.

A Norwegian governmental report stressed that “women in the street market report to have a weaker bargaining position and more safety concerns now than before the law (criminalising clients) was introduced. At the indoors market, prostitutes express concern for the ‘out-door’ calls”.

What Swedish Model advocates also conveniently and constantly forget to mention is that countries which have debated or considered the criminalisation of clients have not removed the criminalisation of sex workers themselves. Even worse, in such countries, the debate framed by politicians, some women’s rights and religious organisations, and the media about “abolishing prostitution” has led to a very significant increase in stigmatisation of sex workers and the associated development of policies and by-laws directly targeting sex workers.

For example, in Europe, Lithuania extended penalisation to clients, while retaining it for sex workers. In Northern Ireland, the criminalisation of clients was added to the other laws criminalising many aspects of sex work. In other parts of UK, each attempt to introduce the criminalisation of clients has been in addition to laws criminalising sex workers. In France, the three year legislative debate on the criminalisation of clients has actually delayed and possibly buried the removal of passive soliciting, a law which directly targets street based sex workers. Meanwhile, many French councils, emboldened by the debate on “abolishing prostitution”, have passed municipal by-laws banning sex workers from city centres and residential neighbourhoods, pushing them to the outskirts of the cities where they are more vulnerable to violence.

On legalisation and decriminalisation

We hope that directors of Amnesty International will have a clearer understanding than the authors and signatories of CATW’s letter regarding the differences between the legalisation and decriminalisation of sex work.

Sex workers globally—as well as the numerous institutions and international organisations including UNAIDS, WHO, and The Lancet, which have extensively researched the impact of criminalisation—advocate for the decriminalisation of sex work, referring to the system implemented in New Zealand in 2003.

We recognise the complex issues associated with legalisation. In Germany, sex work has been legal since 1927, not 2002 as stated in the CATW letter. What the new prostitution law of 2002 changed was to recognise contracts between clients and sex workers and introduce the right of sex workers to sue clients refusing to pay for their services. Thus, what is misleadingly called the “legalisation” of prostitution was actually the recognition of sex work as labour. Many issues in Germany are related to the non-implementation of the law in many federal states: in effect, many sex workers are criminalised in Germany through zoning laws. We reject the biased reporting made by CATW and object to the claims (unfounded and insulting to actual victims of torture) that “torture” is now available as a service in German licenced brothels.

Regarding estimates of the number of victims of trafficking, which is often wrongly conflated with the sex sector, the Federal Crime Office of Germany noted: "The number of identified cases of human trafficking for sexual exploitation in Germany has been decreasing in the past years and in 2013 it has reached the lowest point since 2006". In the Netherlands, the Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings concluded “that it is not (yet) possible to give an answer to the question of the extent to which legalisation of prostitution leads to more human trafficking.”

On male and trans sex workers

Moreover, the CATW letter ignores that sex work is a multi-gendered phenomenon and that both male and trans sex workers in many countries face some of the most serious violence and human rights violations. Although the majority of sex workers are women, to deliberately ignore the large number of men and trans people working in the sex industry shows an incomplete and dangerous understanding of sex work. Violence and murders of trans sex workers in particular, often by the hands of or with the complicity of the authorities and police, are revoltingly high and the voices of trans sex workers should not be sidelined and ignored.

Between 2008 and 2014, 1,612 reported killings of gender-variant/trans people in 62 countries have been documented, including 90 in thirteen European countries. Of those whose profession was known, 65 per cent were sex workers. In our region, Turkey has seen 35 trans women, the majority sex workers, murdered in the last five years. Notably, any form of criminalisation significantly increases sex workers’ vulnerability to violence on the part of the police and other perpetrators. Ignoring the voices of trans sex workers is a form of social marginalisation and violence.

On migrant sex workers

As a last point, we would like to focus on some of the issues faced by migrant sex workers.

In many European countries migrants may constitute up to 75 per cent of sex workers. They may lack documentation and may be subjected to violence and labour exploitation. What CATW ignores in their letter is—again—that the so-called Swedish Model or partial criminalisation puts migrant sex workers under a constant threat of police repression, arrest or/and deportation, denying their right to access to justice and redress. This is particularly relevant at a time when the world is facing the highest crisis in numbers of displaced persons since World War II. Around 60 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide, and those that reach Europe face limited access to decent work and often have little or no access to benefits. Some of those seeking refuge and migrating to Europe choose selling sexual services out of very limited options to earn their living. Any argument made towards the criminalisation of sex work that ignores the working and living conditions of migrant sex workers is not only dangerous but plays into the hands of the increasingly racist and anti-migrant agendas of some state and non-state actors.

The call for the criminalisation of sex workers’ clients in the name of preventing and ending trafficking in human beings has been rejected by many anti-trafficking organisations that have learned through decades of working with trafficked persons that the criminalisation of sex work does not solve any of the problems they experience, nor does it prevent or stop human trafficking. These approaches have not been shown to protect sex workers, halt human trafficking, or dismantle criminal networks. They have rather led to violence and rights violations against sex workers and others. The stakes are simply too high here not to speak out and call for a different approach. Amnesty International must remain strong and focused on the human rights principles at issue. The decriminalisation of sex work and practices around it reduces the opportunities for exploitative labour practices in the sex sector.

Signatories

ORGANISATIONS

ICRSE - International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe SWAN - Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) - International Secretariat, Bangkok, Thailand La Strada International Secretariat, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), Global The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), New York, USA International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW), Global Office, Kenya Transgender Europe Genera, Associación en Defensa de los Derechos de las Mujeres, Barcelona, Spain Red Umbrella Sexual Health and Human Rights Organisation Ankara, Turkey Pembe Hayat/Pink Life LGBTT Solidarity Association, Ankara, Turkey Pink Life - Red Umbrella Sex Workers Initiative, Ankara, Turkey LGBTT Solidarity Association, Ankara, Turkey PROUD, Dutch Union for Sexworkers, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Carusel Association, Bucharest, Romania Sexworker.at, NGO for Germany, Austria and Switzerland voice4sexworkers, Germany Sex Worker Open University, UK English Collective of Prostitutes, UK SCOT-PEP (Scottish Prostitutes Education Project), UK Sex Work Polska, Coalition for the Rights of Sex Workers in Poland Odyseus, Slovakia Sage Community Health Collective, Chicago, IL, USA St James Infirmary, San Francisco, CA, USA STAR-STAR, the first sex worker collective in the Balkans, Macedonia Project SAFE, Philadelphia, PA, USA Sex Workers Outreach Project - Philadelphia, USA Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination - Guyana Rights4Change, Utrecht, The Netherlands Sex Work Association of Jamaica- SWAJ, Jamaica Friends 4 Life- Jamaica FIRST Decriminalize Sex Work, Canada PIECE Edmonton, Sex Workers Advocacy Group, Canada Desiree Alliance USA Sex Workers Outreach Project - Los Angeles, CA, USA Sex Workers Outreach Project Sacramento, CA, USA Respect Inc, Queensland, Australia Justicia Digna, New Mexico, USA Chicago Recovery Alliance, Chicago IL, USA Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters (COSWAS), Taiwan Empower Foundation Thailand ASPASIE, Genève, Switzerland Association of Hungarian Sex Workers, Hungary BOULEVARDS, Geneva, Switzerland Ban Ying Coordination and Counselling Center against Trafficking in Persons e.V., Berlin, Germany Kisauni Peer Educators, box 91109 Mombasa, Kenya Scottish Secular Society, UK Seksualpolitisk Forum / Forum for sexual politics, Copenhagen, Denmark Ragazza e.V., organisation for drug using sex workers, Hamburg, Germany Lady Mermaid’s Bureau, Kampala, Uganda Ragazza-Kontakt, outreach team for indoors-based sex workers, Hamburg, Germany HOPS-Healthy Options Project Skopje, Macedonia Union “Positive in the Rainbow” - Warsaw, Poland Hydra e.V., Advice and Support Centre for Prostitutes, Berlin, Germany Sex Workers Outreach Project - Tampa Bay, USA Gadejuristen // The Danish Street Lawyers, Copenhagen, Denmark Out Now, Massachusetts, USA Madonna e.V.,Bochum, Germany Midnight Blue, Hong Kong LEFÖ, Beratung, Bildung und Begleitung für Migrantinnen, Vienna/Austria Morel LGBTI formation, Eskişehir, USA Pivot Legal Society, Vancouver, Canada Davida - Prostituição, Direitos Civis, Saúde, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Daspu, sex worker fashion label, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Beijo da rua, sex worker journal, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Red Light Rio project, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil International Women’s Health Coalition, USA Association Program STACJA, Warsaw, Poland BesD, Berufsverband für erotische und sexuelle Dienstleistungen e.V., Germany Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute Onlus, Pordenone, Italy Humanitas Prostitution Welfare Work, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Hearts on a Wire, Philadelphia, PA, USA La coalition pour les droits des travailleuses et travailleurs du sexe (Montréal, QC), Canada Federation for Women and Family Planning, Poland Etnoblog Associazione Interculturale - Trieste, Italy Shenzhen Xiyan Communication Centre, China BAYSWAN (Bay Area Sex Worker Advocacy Network), San Francisco SisterLove, Inc. (Atlanta, Georgia, USA & Witibank, South Africa) Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), Kingston, Jamaica Double Positive Foundation, Suriname Guyana Sex Work Coalition PiA Information und Beratung für Sexarbeiterinnnen, Österreich Sex Worker’s Outreach Project New Mexico Сharitable organization «All-Ukrainian League Legalife» ,Ukraine Sex Worker Outreach Project, Tucson AZ, USA Associazione Radicale Certi Diritti, Italy move e. V., Berlin/Germany BSD e. V., Berlin/Germany Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice Alliance (RESURJ) Balance Promocion para el Desarrollo y Juventud, Mexico SWAN, Supporting Women Alternative Network, Vancouver Society - Vancouver, BC Canada Sex Work Association of Jamaica Women With a Vision, New Orleans, USA Diverse Voices and Action for Equality, Fiji Transgender Resource Center, Hong Kong Anis - Instituto de Bioética, Direitos Humanos e Gênero, Brazil Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) Sex Workers Outreach Project - Las Vegas, NV, USA African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA) Kenya Sex Workers Alliance(KESWA) MIT (Movimento Identità Transessuale) - Bologna - Italy Unzip the Lips Platform for HIV Key Affected Women and Girls (Asia Pacific) Ideadonna CATS Comite de Apoyo a las Trabajadoras del Sexo, SPAIN Social AIDS Commitee (SKA), Warsaw, Poland FIZ Fachstelle Frauenhandel und Frauenmigration, Zurich, Switzerland Prostitution Information Centre (PIC), Amsterdam, the Netherlands Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality, Beirut, Lebanon SIO Sex Workers Interest Organisation, Denmark Maria Magdalena, Project of the Health Department of¨the Canton St. Gallen, Switzerland Divergenti Festival Internazionale di cinema trans, Bologna, Italy Colectivo Hetaira, Spain Basis-Projekt, Beratungsstelle für Sexarbeiter, Hamburg, German HIV Ireland, Dublin, Ireland Asociación de Profesionales del Sexo - Aprosex, Spain Betty&Books Associazione Culturale - Bologna (Italy) SOPHIE BildungsRaum für Prostituierte (Austria) Lilith e. V. (i. G.), sex worker peer education project in the course of formation, Bielefeld, Germany Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights (UAF) Aids Hilfe Bern, Switzerland Observatório da Prostituição - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil COYOTE Los Angeles ISWFACE International Sex Worker Foundation for Art, Culture and Education Best Practices Policy Project, (USA) Fundación Triángulo. (España/Spain). COGAM Colectivo de Gays, Lesbianas, Transexuales y Bisexuales de Madrid (España/Spain) Sekswerk Nederland (NL) Animus Association Foundation, Sofia, Bulgaria International Public Association “Gender Perspectives”, Minsk, Belarus La Strada, Prague, Czech Republic, International Women’s Rights Centre “La Strada”, Chisinau, Moldova La Strada Foundation against Trafficking, Exploitation and Slavery, Warsaw, Poland Open Gate - Association for Action against Violence and Trafficking in Human Beings, Skopje, Macedonia International Women’s Rights Protection and Promotion Centre “La Strada”, Kyiv, Ukraine AIDS Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, United States The Naked Truth, Canada Feministinen aloite - Feminist Initiative Finland, Feminist organization supporting sex workers' rights, Finland Acceptess-T, France Health Global Access Project (Health GAP), USA CSD-Piraten Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (USA) Associação Existências (Portugal) New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective, Aotearoa/New Zealand New York Anti-Trafficking Network (NYATN), New York, USA Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), New York, USA The Seltzer Firm, New York, PLLC, New York, USA Program on Global Health and Human Rights, University of Southern California Rights Reporter Foundation, Hungary Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, the organisation of sex workers in West Bengal , India The International Union of Sex Workers, UK Amra Padatik, the foot soldiers, the organisation of the sex workers Children,Kolkata,West Bengal India Komal Gandhar, the cultural wing of DMSC ,Kolkata,West BENGAL India Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, Dublin Ireland PION - Norwegian sexworkers rights organization. Organisations: Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucía (APDHA), Andalucía, Spain TERRE DES FEMMES Schweiz, Bern Switzerland Balaram Dey Street Anandam, LGBTKH organisation, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. USHA Multipurpose Cooperative Society,Ltda financial institute for the sex workers and run by the sex workers. Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Durbar DiSHA, Mohila Griha Sramik Samanwaya Committe, Kolkata, West Bengal, India Transgender Network Switzerland, Zurich, Switzerland Associazione Enzo Tortora Radicali Milano Rechtskomitee LAMBDA (RKL) (Austria) Austrian Society for Sexologies - ÖGS (Austria) Swiss Rainbow Families Association, Zurich, Switzerland PortoG, APDES, Portugal Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI), Ireland National Forum for Democracy and Development, Kathmandu Nepal Loom-Nepal, Kathmandu Nepal Migrant Sex Worker Project,Canada Butterfly: Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Network, Canada Association Fleur de Pavé, Lausanne, Switzerland Winnipeg Working Group for Sex Workers’ Rights, Canada Drodrolagi Movement, Fiji Asociación de Trabajadoras Sexuales MUJERES DEL SUR - PERÚ Tamaulipas Diversidad VIHDA Trans A.C., Mexico

INDIVIDUALS