It’s happening here. And you can stop it.

From back alleys to Backpage.com, suburbs to cyber sites, human beings—especially women and girls—are bought and sold for sex. No matter the medium, there’s one constant—rampant demand.

Demand Abolition is eradicating the illegal commercial sex industry in the US—and, by extension, the world—by combating the demand for purchased sex. The most efficient approach to ending sexual exploitation is targeting sex buyers: when they stop buying, the entire system of degradation collapses.

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Ambassador Swanee Hunt wants you to contact Amnesty International about its policy on “sex work”

Posted by on October 28, 2015 in Updates

Here’s a personal appeal from Demand Abolition Founder and Chair, Ambassador Swanee Hunt, asking you to reach out to Amnesty International.

Ambassador Swanee Hunt onstage at the Fourth Annual USA TODAY Hollywood Hero Award Gala honoring Ashley Judd at the Montage Beverly Hills on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 in Beverly Hills, CA. (Vince Bucci / AP Images for USA TODAY)

You can intervene at a crucial moment.

At its summit in Dublin this past August, Amnesty International passed a resolution calling for the full decriminalization of prostitution, including brothel owning, pimping, and sex-buying.

As I wrote in an op-ed for Global Post, prostituted people should not be criminalized for their own exploitation. But those who perpetuate the buying and selling of human beings for profit need to be held accountable. Amnesty’s resolution implies that decriminalization of sex buyers and pimps would improve the health and social status of “sex workers.” But the truth is full decriminalization of commercial sex will do neither. It only serves to normalize an inherently exploitive practice, deeply rooted in gender-based violence and inequality. Increased decriminalization would increase this dangerous industry—and all its related harms, including sex trafficking—throughout the world.

Sometime in the very near future, Amnesty International’s board will meet to draft an official stance on the issue. There’s still an opportunity to engage board members and encourage them to create a policy that advocates for services and protection of those sold for sex, but doesn’t provide the same for their exploiters—sex buyers, pimps, and brothel owners.

I’m asking my friends and allies to stand with me, and let Amnesty know we are united against total decriminalization of the sex trade. To get involved:

Together we can stop Amnesty International from making a sad mistake.

 

Hopeful,

Ambassador Swanee Hunt