Wednesday, October 24, 2012

UNDP spokeswoman says: - "the world should not criminalize prostitution"

Read full story on Washngton Times: U.N. report calls for decriminalizing prostitution - Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/24/un-report-calls-decriminalizing-prostitution/#ixzz2AEoSYPtk

“Nearly all countries of Asia and the Pacific criminalize some aspects of sex work, … [but] criminalization increases vulnerability to HIV,” said Cherie Hart, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), describing the dangers of contracting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

The report called for the decriminalization of prostitution because it found “no evidence from countries of Asia and the Pacific” that outlawing the sex trade has prevented HIV epidemics among sex workers and their clients.

The report also called for euphemisms.

“The terms ‘prostitution’ and ‘prostitute’ have negative connotations and are considered by advocates of sex workers to be stigmatizing,” said the 210-page report, authored by Australian human rights lawyer John Godwin.

“The term ‘sex work’ is preferred,” said the report, issued by the UNDP, the U.N. Population Fund, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and several nongovernmental organizations across Asia.

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