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: if your very occupation is criminalised, you are unable to turn to the police if you are attacked or if 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, 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 take issue with Jessica Neuwirth’s article (Amnesty International says prostitution is a human right – but it’s wrong, the guardian.com, 28 July).
To the critics of this policy who have cited their concern for my and other sex workers’ safety, let me be clear: when sex work is directly and indirectly criminalised, the human rights and safety of people who choose to engage in it are inevitably compromised.
This becomes painfully clear when you work as a paralegal officer for sex workers in a country like Zimbabwe. I seek justice for the sex workers I know who have been murdered in clients’ homes and cars, lacking safe or legal spaces to work. I seek justice for my fellow sex workers who are routinely denied healthcare services and police protection.
We all agree that human trafficking and sexual exploitation are abhorrent. However, whereas Amnesty’s critics patronisingly reject sex workers’ credibility to choose this industry, Amnesty acknowledges our existence, rights and desire to help inform this debate.
Barbra Moyo
Sexual Rights Centre, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
