Today’s European Court of Human Rights ruling against sex workers seeking redress for the infringement on their rights resulting from the criminalization of their work is a missed opportunity to better protect sex workers from abuse and violence, Amnesty International said.
In MA and others v. France, the Court examined the human rights impact of the so-called “Nordic model” – a legal framework adopted by France in 2016 – which makes it illegal to buy sex and criminalizes organizational aspects of sex work.
“This ruling fails to recognize that criminalizing sex work increases discrimination and stigmatization and jeopardizes the safety of sex workers, who are amongst the most marginalized groups in our societies,” said Anna Błuś, Amnesty International’s Women’s Rights Researcher.
“Criminalizing the purchase of sex forces sex workers to take more risks whilst penalizing brothel keeping prevents sex workers from working together to ensure their own safety. Criminalization also jeopardizes their human rights as it creates obstacles for sex workers in accessing housing, healthcare and other critical services, and can lead to abuse, violence, harassment and extortion.”
Amnesty International submitted a third party intervention in the case, sharing its research findings from Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, Ireland, Norway and Papua New Guinea. The research revealed how criminalization forces sex workers to operate covertly in ways that compromise their safety and prevent them from seeking support or protection from authorities.
“Our research has highlighted that laws supposedly intended to protect sex workers are in fact putting them at higher risk of abuse and violence, including rape and physical attacks,” said Anna Błuś.
“Today’s judgment is a blow to the courageous sex workers who brought this case. We continue to stand alongside sex workers as they demand protection for their human rights and seek justice for rights violations perpetrated against their community and improve protection of their human rights going forward.”
Background
In 2016, the French Parliament enacted Law No. 2016-444 criminalizing the purchase of sex, even between consenting adults. A group of sex workers, together with a sex workers’ trade union and various humanitarian associations, challenged the law in French courts, but their claims that it was unconstitutional were rejected in 2019.
Following this, 261 sex workers applied to the European Court of Human Rights. The sex workers alleged violations of Articles 2 and 3 – right to life and freedom from torture and other ill-treatment – and Article 8 – the right to respect for private life.
The Court decided to only examine the allegations of violations under Article 8 and ruled that France was to be awarded a wide “margin of appreciation” in legislating on sex work.The Court nonetheless emphasized that national authorities have a duty to keep their approach under constant review, especially when it was based on a general and absolute prohibition of the purchase of sexual acts, to ensure that legislation can be amended as international standards in this field evolve.