Is Amnesty International supporting pimps?
Petition: vote No to decriminalizing pimps, brothel owners, and buyers of sex.
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW International) has started a petition to ask Salil Shetty, Secretary General, and Steven W. Hawkins, executive director of Amnesty International (AI) to vote against decriminalizing pimps, brothel owners, and buyers of sex.
It is widely believed that at its International Council Meeting to be held in Dublin, from 7–11 August 2015, Amnesty International will reportedly review an internal circular entitled “Draft Policy on Sex Work,” which endorses the full decriminalization of the sex industry, including the legalization of pimping, brothel owning and the buying of sex.
Medical professionals, the testimonies of survivors and extensive research all demonstrate that the sex industry is predicated on dehumanization, degradation and gender violence that can cause life-long physical and psychological harm to those exploited at the hands of pimps, traffickers and buyers of sex (or “johns”).
Prostitution is a harmful practice steeped in gender and economic inequalities that leaves a devastating impact on those sold and exploited in the sex trade.
Please add your signature to this open letter, signed by more than 400 national and international women’s rights groups, leading survivors of the sex trade, human rights advocates, medical doctors, Hollywood actors and directors, fashion designers, faith-based leaders and concerned individuals from over 30 countries, urging Amnesty International not to adopt any policy that supports the full decriminalization of the sex industry.
This would, in effect, strengthen the pillars of a multi-billion dollar industry that preys on the most marginalized and vulnerable populations for commercial sexual exploitation.
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) firmly believes and agrees with Amnesty that human beings bought and sold in the sex trade, who are mostly women, must not be criminalized in any jurisdiction by law enforcement or governments.
However, what Amnesty’s “Draft Policy on Sex Work” proposes is in violation of long established human rights principles, and women’s rights in particular, including the right to live a life free of violence and with dignity.
Please join the signers of this petition and signal to Amnesty International that we must hold accountable those who prey on vulnerable individuals with histories of poverty, homelessness and sexual abuse and ensure that everyone has the fundamental right not to be bought and sold.
Among the signatories of the open letter to Amnesty International are: Sr. Colette Cronin, The Institute of Our Lady of Mercy, UK; Wendy Davis, Director, Rooms of our Own, UK; Sr. Lynda Dearlove rsm, women@thewell, UK; Jennifer Drew, Consultant, Scottish Women Against Pornography, UK; Feminism in London, UK; Annette Lawson OBE, Chair, The Judith Trust, Immediate Past Chair, National Alliance of Women’s Organisations (NAWO), UK; Dr Helen Liebling, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology/Associate of African Studies Centre, Coventry University, UK; Manchester Feminist Network, UK; Sandra McNeill, Justice for Women, UK; Resist Porn Culture, UK; Emma Thompson, UK; Kate Winslet, UK and Anna Wintour, UK/USA.
For, it is sadly clear that ‘…should Amnesty vote to support the decriminalization of pimping, brothel owning and sex buying, it will in effect support a system of gender apartheid, in which one category of women may gain protection from sexual violence and sexual harassment, and offered economic and educational opportunities; while another category of women, whose lives are shaped by absence of choice, are instead set apart for consumption by men and for the profit of their pimps, traffickers and brothel owners.
‘Neither the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, nor international law excepts any human being from enjoying a life free of violence and of dignity.
‘Peter Benenson, the founder of Amnesty, once said: “The candle burns not for us, but for all those whom we failed to rescue from prison, who were shot on the way to prison, who were tortured, who were kidnapped, who ‘disappeared.’ That is what the candle is for.”
‘Amnesty’s reputation in upholding human rights for every individual would be severely and irreparably tarnished if it adopts a policy that sides with buyers of sex, pimps and other exploiters rather than with the exploited.
‘By so voting, Amnesty would blow out its own candle.’
By so voting, Amnesty would condemn thousands upon thousands of women and girls to misery.
To sign the petition, click here.
And join @catwintl in putting the pressure on Amnesty International, using the hashtag #QuestionsForAmnesty
How much money the pimps paid to amnesty for this dirty market??