Swedes slam Amnesty's 'legalize prostitution' bid

[redqueen]

Amnesty International's proposal to lobby for the legalization of buying and selling sex has caused an angry reaction among Swedish women's rights organizations.

"We are profoundly against this, naturally," Gertrud Åström, chairwoman of the NGO Swedish Women's Lobby (Sveriges Kvinnolobby), told the TT news agency on Tuesday.

...

Yet at the Swedish Women's Lobby, chairwoman Åström pointed out that any such proposal would contravene national law. In Sweden, purchasing sex, rather than selling it, is illegal.

"They could have said straight off the bat that due to the Swedish legislation, Amnesty Sweden cannot work in (this proposal's) favour," Åström said. "We are appalled and deeply disappointed that they didn't react by distancing themselves straight away."

...

http://m.thelocal.se//20140128/amnesty-legalize-prostitution-bid-angers-swedes

Is anyone else following this?

Legislation was introduced in Northern Ireland yesterday, one clause of which would implement the Nordic model with respect to prostitution. Amnesty International apparently argued against this one part of the bill.

This has caused a firestorm and enraged feminists across Europe. This article says that the decision is AI's official stance as per the London office. However, a lot of it seems to be based off of a leaked document which AI later said was not yet their official stance, and that they were only considering adopting this libertarian position on prostitution.

Their hashtag was swarmed recently by people who make money in the sex industry, naturally.

[Squinch]

1. Why would Amnesty International be taking this position? Which is known to increase

trafficking?

[YoungDemCA]

2. Libertarian influence?

[Squinch]

3. .

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. If Libertarians were not so hellbent on having the Liberty to harm others I could deal with

their philosophy a whole lot easier.

[proverbialwisdom]

5. UPDATE.

EMAIL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2015

[center]Amnesty International Votes to Decriminalize Exploitation
Statement by NCOSE Executive Director, Dawn Hawkins[/center]
Washington, DC – Amnesty International, the human rights group, voted on August 11, 2015, to adopt a policy in favor of decriminalizing prostitution. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) denounces this decision as irresponsible advocacy in favor of a system that does immense and indelible harm to women, children, and men around the world.

Amnesty International claims to “campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all.” Yet, decriminalization of brothel-keeping and soliciting is a gift to pimps, sex traffickers, and sex buyers that enshrines in law a right to buy and sell other human beings. Such laws do not protect the human rights of persons in prostitution, but guarantee that their dehumanization and exploitation will continue.

"Amnesty International has failed to remain true to its mission of ‘preventing and ending grave abuses.’ The types of abuse and brutality that comprise daily life in the sex trade are nothing short of torture. By voting in favor of a policy to decriminalize prostitution, Amnesty International has abandoned the victims of abuse and exploitation to the whims of pimps and sex exploiters,” said Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of NCOSE. “Today we lament that the cause of human rights for the sexual exploited has taken a giant step backwards.”

Evidence substantiates the fact that the sex trade does immense physical and emotional harm to those in it. A study by Farley et al. reports that 64% of adults in prostitution experienced threats with a weapon and 71% were physically assaulted. Another study found 50% of women prostituting outdoors and 26% of those indoors (saunas and flats) experienced violence within the past six months. It's not surprising that in a survey of prostituted persons across nine countries 89% said they wanted to escape.

[center][/center]