Amnesty international published a new policy on sex work this summer and very quickly came under fire from a number of international celebrities for the details that were included in the document. One of the leading human rights organisations produced a document that was sent to police international sexual conduct between adults but this adjustment and personal freedoms especially when it comes to escort work and the adult industry was not heavily supported. The proposed policy was designed to prevent extreme instances like kidnapping, harassment and more and impose heavy criminalisation for the increased risks and alert issues that face sex workers around the world.
While the policy definitely had some points to better protect sex workers in Darwin and internationally, the policy actually defied a number of international human rights laws.
As soon as the organisation’s response was published over 400 people came forward writing letters of protests, many of them celebrities. To date a number of top celebrities like Lena Dunham, Lisa Kudrow, Meryl Steep, Kate Winslet, Anne Hathaway, Angela Basset and Kevin Kline signed their own individual letters to amnesty regarding the issue.
Although the policy is based off of the principles of harm reduction it takes no official position on whether or not sex work should be regulated internationally and violates the rights of individuals who have chosen the escort industry as a profession.
While the amnesty policy does not officially going to effect, it could be a precursor to upcoming reform in the Darwin Escort industry. As it stands however amnesty has no issue with those who voluntarily undertake sex work under safe conditions where and when they choose too. Amnesty has further gone on to say that they will be reassessing their document policy to better protect those workers around the world who face extreme issues/ human rights violations in the sex industry.
