Amnesty approves policy to legalize sex trade

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 According to the Guardian, Amnesty International has approved a policy to endorse the decriminalisation of the sex trade.

At its decision-making forum in Dublin, the human rights group approved the resolution to recommend “full decriminalisation of all aspects of consensual sex work”.

It argued that its research suggested decriminalisation was the best way to defend the rights of sex workers, rejecting complaints by women’s groups who said it was tantamount to advocating the legalisation of pimping and brothel-owning.

“We recognise that this critical human rights issue is hugely complex and that is why we have addressed this issue from the perspective of international human rights standards,” said Salil Shetty, the secretary general of Amnesty International. “We also consulted with our global movement to take on board different views from around the world.”

Amnesty’s decision is important because the organisation will use its weight to lobby governments to accept its point of view.