It is not Amnesty International but your editorial page that seems guilty of “policy-wonking” by “protected western adults” (Editorial,3 August). To claim that “no special legislation or policies are needed” to protect sex workers from murder, kidnap or rape overlooks what ought to be obvious: whether your very occupation is criminalised, or you are unable to turn to the police whether you are attacked or whether a fellow sex worker is abducted or murdered,because in many countries the chances are that you will be arrested and the perpetrators will not be pursued. Amnesty International doesn’t claim that decriminalisation of sex work will end human rights violations against sex workers. But it’s a good first step, and it’s entirely consistent with Amnesty’s mission to consider it.
James Baer
London• As a paralegal officer with the Sexual Rights Centre in Zimbabwe and as a sex worker with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry, and I am all too familiar with the violence and exploitation that sex workers routinely face. It is precisely for these reasons that I and the organisation I work for fully endorse Amnesty International’s draft policy on sex work and lift issue with Jessica Neuwirth’s article (Amnesty International says prostitution is a human right – but it’s incorrect,the guardian.com, 28 July).
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Source: theguardian.com