Dear MEPs,

 

The Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee has recently voted on a report to the European Union recommending the criminalisation of clients of sex workers, also known as the Swedish Model.[1]

 

This repressive measure has been denounced by ALL sex workers' organisations in Europe as a measure that would only increase our vulnerability and our stigma, which are the root causes of the violence against sex workers.[2]

 

A vast number of organisations[3]​ [4]​ [5], from those working directly with sex workers[6] to LGBT[7] and women's rights organisations[8] have also denounced this paternalistic and dangerous measure. 

 

The draft report by Ms Honeyball is based on flawed methodology[9], using references from discredited authors[10] and conflate sex work with trafficking against the recommendations of anti-trafficking organisations themselves[11]. 

 

The report makes reference to the vulnerability of sex workers to HIV, but ignores all the recommendations from health organisations including World Health Organisation and UNAIDS[12] who have taken position against the criminalisation of clients.

 

The lives of millions of women and men could be affected by a measure which has been widely criticised by experts and academics and has proven completely ineffective and counter-productive: in 15 years, since the law was voted in Sweden in 1999, there is simply no evidence that the number of sex workers or victims of trafficking have decreased.[13]

 

We urge you to vote against this report. Sex workers and their families in the European Union need to have their voices heard and our rights respected.[14]

 

Please vote against the criminalisation of clients of sex workers,

 

Sincerely,

 

The International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe- ICRSE

ICRSE represents 58 organisations for sex workers' rights in Europe and Central Asia.

 

 

 

 

 

[1]​ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/20140123IPR33504/html/Punish-sex-buyers-to-reduce-prostitution-EP-committee-says​

 

[2]​ http://www.sexworkeurope.org/news/general-news/statement-european-parliaments-womens-rights-and-gender-equality-committee​

 

[3]​ http://droitsetprostitution.fr/1/index.php/a/7-manifeste-contre-la-penalisation-des-prostituees-et-de-leurs-clients​

 

[4]​ http://sexwork-deutschland.de/alles/brief-an-das-eu-parlament-gegen-den-antrag-auf-freierbestrafung/​

 

[5]​ http://carusel.org/blog/nu-modelului-suedez/​

 

[6]​ http://www.uknswp.org/wp-content/uploads/UKNSWP_Scotland_consultation_response_dec_2012.pdf​

 

[7]​ http://www.tgeu.org/TGEU_Statement_on_Abolitionist_Call​

 

[8]​ http://www.frauenrat.de/deutsch/infopool/nachrichten/informationdetail/article/-f303b1b78e.html​

 

[9]​ http://www.totalpolitics.com/print/428222/a-response-to-mary-honeyball.thtml​

 

[10]​ http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2011/12/04/what-is-a-representative-sex-worker/​

 

[11]​http://www.gaatw.org/publications/MovingBeyond_SupplyandDemand_GAATW2011.pdf​ 

 

[12]​http://www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contentassets/documents/unaidspublication/2009/JC2306_UNAIDS-guidance-note-HIV-sex-work_en.pdf​

[13]​http://www.polisen.se/Global/www%20och%20Intrapolis/Informationsmaterial/01%20Polisen%20nationellt/Engelskt%20informationsmaterial/Trafficking_1998_/Trafficking_report_13_20130530.pdf​

 

[14]​ http://www.humanrightseurope.org/2014/02/witness-sonja-dolinsek-respecting-the-rights-of-sex-workers-in-our-democratic-societies/