Amnesty International rejects moves to critique position on the decriminalisation of prostitution

British members of the human rights group, Amnesty International, have rejected a motion to re-examine their position supporting the decriminalisation of prostitution, activists said.

Delegates to Amnesty International UK’s (AIUK) annual general meeting (AGM) turned against the motion presented by members supporting the “Nordic Model”; itself an approach entertained in Sweden and several other nations that penalises the purchasers of sex whilst offering support to those wishing to leave the sex industry. The motion failed by 65 percent opposing and 34 percent in favour.

“There are a large number of current and former prostituted women who campaign against full decriminalisation and who are strongly in favour of the Nordic Model”, said Anne Fisher, herself chair of the advocacy group Nordic Model Now!. “We wish AIUK would listen to them.”

Supporters of the motion also complained of attempts by AIUK to prevent their case being heard. Activists claim to have been impeded in their efforts to hand out written material presenting their case, whilst those supporting AIUK’s current position, such as the English Collective of Prostitutes – itself a group open to all professions – were permitted to do so unhindered.

Pro-Nordic Model activists also claim they were only permitted a limited amount of time to address the AGM, something that they maintain created difficulties and caused many delegates to remain uninformed as to their position.

“Supporters of the motion only had four three-minute slots during the debate on the motion,” argued Ms Fisher, in an article for the Morning Star. “It was obviously impossible to do justice to the arguments in such a short time, so they asked attendees to abstain from voting if they did not fully understand the evidence and issues. More than 700 members followed this advice, clearly feeling they had not been given sufficient information to make an informed decision.”

Amnesty’s stance on supporting decriminalisation of the sex trade is controversial given the existence of research that points to a link between such a policy and the activity of human traffickers. A research paper compiled in 2013 for the academic journal, World Development, surveyed 150 nations in order to compare differing approaches to prostitution and their effect on human trafficking. On average, human trafficking was found to increase in those countries where prostitution was legal.

Amnesty have also attracted scrutiny in terms of how they arrived at their position. Initial research saw Amnesty consult with the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP), an entity which at the time held an individual named Alejandra Gil in its senior ranks. Gil was later exposed, arrested and found guilty in 2015 of human trafficking in Mexico. Amnesty have also taken policy advice from one Douglas Fox, himself co-owner of Christony Companions, itself one of the largest “escort agencies” in England’s north-east.

Critics argue that Amnesty have thus compromised their position as a human rights advocacy group. Amnesty maintains that their policy on decriminalisation is the result of in-depth and objective research. They also maintain that legislation such as the Nordic Model harm rather than help, causing prostitution to become even more dangerous as the sex industry goes “underground” in an attempt to avoid detection by authorities.

Countries which have implemented the Nordic Model, however, cite positive results in tackling both violent crime and human trafficking. Cases of trafficking in Sweden, specifically, are believed to have dropped considerably since implementation of such legislation in 1999, whereas trafficking is alleged to be a clear and persistent phenomenon in nations, such as Germany and Holland, that have opted for decriminalisation.

Amnesty maintain that the Nordic Model and similar policies are an infringement of both freedom of choice and the human rights of individual prostitutes.

A study conducted in 2004 found that a sizeable majority of prostitutes in multiple countries wished to escape their situation, with just 34 percent desiring legalisation. Over 70 percent of respondents also claimed to have been assaulted, with 63 percent citing incidents of rape and 68 percent exhibiting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. 75 percent were also found to have been homeless at some point in their lives.