3 thoughts on “Contact”

  1. There’s another organisation on a mission to abolish sex trafficking called A21 Campaign which you might already be familiar with. They’re working for the girls in Europe. Do you know of any organisations working to combat this in Asia / South east Asia? Here is the A21 website just in case you’re interested..
    http://www.thea21campaign.org

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  2. UNAIDS may be reconsidering its approach on the decriminalisation of “sex work”. Michale Sidibé’s letter was a step in this direction, maybe we can push them along even further. Equality Now asks for intervention by email to the Lancet (prestigious British medical magazine. Here is the letter and the links: (Remember to state that of course we wish to discriminalize the women in prostitution themselves in accordance with the UN convention 1949 – it’s the johns, the pimps the brothelkeepers the traffickers who must be or remain criminalized. AND that prostitution is a human rights violation and violence committed against women and girls – as was stated in 1949 and has been stated by the UN in many conventions since.)
    Letter:
    “Subject: UN consultation on HIV prevention in commercial sex industry – calling for submissions

    Dear friends,
    We are writing to you as organizations and individuals interested in the United Nations’ (UN) policy on prostitution and sex trafficking. You may be aware that UNAIDS, in conjunction with the Lancet, is conducting a consultation on HIV prevention work in the UN’s post-2015 development agenda (see more here: http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/campaigns/post2015/defeatingaidsadvancingglobalhealth/).
    One of the discussion papers (http://download.thelancet.com/flatcontentassets/pdfs/unaids-discussion1.pdf) guiding the consultation states that the criminalization of “sex work” is a legal barrier to the HIV response and “further entrench[es] HIV-related stigma and human rights violations” (pg. 6). The paper also states that the decriminalization of “sex work” can “have an impact on the epidemic”, citing New Zealand and Portugal as examples.
    There are signs that UNAIDS is open to reconsidering its position on decriminalization of prostitution, as shown by the recent email from UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe in response to our action regarding this, which many of you have signed on to (http://www.equalitynow.org/take_action/sex_trafficking_action511). This current consultation is a great opportunity to show that many women’s rights and anti-trafficking activists do not support full decriminalization of prostitution and exploitative activities surrounding it, and to reiterate that this approach does not protect women and girls in prostitution or improve their situation, but that this is best done through adopting the Nordic model criminalizing the demand for sexual exploitation and decriminalizing those selling sex.
    Unfortunately, the opportunity to submit a comment ends soon – individuals and organizations can submit comments up until December 31, 2013 by emailing responses@lancet.com. We hope that many of you will be able to make a submission, however brief, to ensure that our perspective is heard and represented. And please share with other organizations who may be interested in making a submission.
    Please let me know if you’d like to discuss further, and if you do submit a comment or letter!
    Many thanks,
    Kristen

    Kristen Berg
    Program Officer
    Equality Now
    kberg@equalitynow.org

    Reply

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