President of Ukraine: refuse bill on further penalization of prostitution in Ukraine

refuse bill № 9406 on further penalization of prostitution in Ukraine

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: Mr. Viktor Yanukovich, President of Ukraine.

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Dear Mr. President,
We, the undersigned, supporters and representatives of sex workers and organizations and individuals advocating for human rights, strongly condemn the bill currently before the Ukrainian Verhovnaya Rada that addresses penalties for prostitution.

Background
Bill № 9406 of 03.11.2011, introduced by the Minister of Interior proposes to increase the fines for sex work to 340 / 1700 Ukrainian Hrivna from 75/170 Ukrainian Hrivna. Furthermore, whereas previously, administrative offenses for prostitution could result in a warning, the proposed legislation would make fines a mandatory minimum punishment for individual prostitution.

The bill also extends the right to enforce penalties for prostitution offenses that occurred in large cities to small local and rural administrative committees. This is proposed in order to increase the enforcement of penalties given to sex workers whose legal residency is in another district than the large urban centers where they work.

Human Rights and Health Concerns

The penalization of sex work has been found to contribute to serious human rights abuses against sex workers. By creating pretexts for agents of the state to control and punish sex workers, penalization directly contributes to extremely high levels of physical and sexual violence by police against sex workers. As Human Rights Watch documented, laws against sex work have allowed Ukrainian police to extort, physically and sexually abuse sex workers with “little risk of censure for these action”. Indeed, research in Ukraine found that 85% of sex workers had experienced physical violence from police in the previous year and 45% had experienced sexual violence from police in the past year. Furthermore, 35% of sex workers had experienced extortion from police.

By creating an adversarial relationship between police and sex workers, penalization robs sex workers of access to equal protection of the law. This in turn creates a climate of impunity and fuels violence against sex workers by the general public, gangsters, intimate partners and family members, and police.

Furthermore, international health and human rights bodies have acknowledged that penalizing sex workers can increase their risks of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections by forcing sex workers not to carry condoms, to rush negotiations with clients or to hide in isolated and dangerous areas in order to evade police repression. This has been noted by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNAIDS in the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, in which they recommend to governments that,
“[W]ith regard to adult sex work that involves no victimization, criminal law should be reviewed with the aim of decriminalizing, then legally regulating occupational health and safety conditions to protect sex workers and their clients, including support for safe sex during sex work. Criminal law should not impede provision of HIV prevention and care services to sex workers and their clients.”

The proposed law would increase the human rights abuses and health risks for sex workers that have been documented in Ukraine. Police’s ability to threaten and impose heavy fines risks fueling current practices of police extortion, sexual coercion and physical violence. Furthermore, proposed mandatory fines would be the equivalent of one week’s work for many sex workers. The financial burden of such fines, particularly when repeated, would constrain sex workers’ ability to refuse clients who appear dangerous or request unprotected sex. Such constraints represent grave risks to sex workers’ safety and health.

All people, including sex workers, are entitled to their basic human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and association (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Articles 19 and 22) and the rights to the highest attainable standard of health and to safe and healthy working conditions (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Articles 6, 7 and 12). The Constitution of Ukraine recognizes a number of these rights and further stipulates that all Ukrainians “are free and equal in their dignity and rights.” (Article 21).

Action needed now:
Therefore, we call upon the Ukrainian Government to:
• Reject increased legal penalties for sex workers.
• Reject increased enforcement of penalties for sex workers.
• Re-examine current laws relating to the criminalization and penalization of sex work in light of the evidence that such criminalization and penalization undermines both health and human rights.

Sincerely,

Aliya Rakhmetova, Coordinator, Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network of Central/Eastern Europe and Central Asia (SWAN)
Lena Tsukerman, Chairwoman, Charitable Organization “Ukrainian League LEGALIFE”, Ukraine
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Sincerely,

[Your name]