PRESS RELEASE – It is with great concern, we receive the news that Amnesty International today has voted to adopt a policy, which supports the violations committed by the prostitution industry, and which strikes at the heart of the human rights of women and girls. We reconfirm our commitment to continue the struggle against prostitution of women and girls, and against those – pimps, prostitution buyers and traffickers –  who hold up and profit from this form of sexualised violence and oppression directed against women and girls.

On June 1, 2015, the Northern Ireland  Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Further Provisions and Support for Victims) Act came into force, which means that those, who purchase a sexual service, now are committing a crime (s. 15) and can be arrested. It also means that the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety must prepare and publish a strategy for the provision of assistance and support services for those who wish to leave prostitution (s. 19).

We want to thank everyone who has worked so tirelessly to make this happen, including our chairperson, Gunilla Ekberg, who has acted as an expert and testified to the Northern Ireland Justice Committee for the benefit of the law during the past three years.

The legislation can be found via this link:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2015/2/contents/enacted

On 20 May 2015, the Forum on Women at the Carter Center, organized a virtual roundtable entitled “Ending Sexual Exploitation in Prostitution and Pornography: Next Steps.” The virtual roundtable was a follow-up to the Summit on Ending Sexual Exploitation, which took place in Atlanta, Georgia in the USA, on May 11 and 12, 2015.

Hosted by Karin Ryan, Senior Human Rights Advisor to President Carter, speakers Dr. Kathleen Barry, Gunilla Ekberg, Human Rights Lawyer, and Dr. Gail Dines discussed initiatives to end sexual exploitation of women through prostitution and pornography.

The roundtable discussion is available via the following link. Gunilla Ekberg’s contribution starts at 30:30 minutes.

http://ow.ly/NigXj

Anna Edman-Bastos of the Institute for Feminism and Human Rights was invited to attend the End Sexual Violence in Conflict event at the British Embassy in Stockholm on 11 June 2014.

The event consisted of a screening of Kvinna till Kvinna’s short documentary called ‘Women’s War’ followed by a panel debate with representatives from Kvinna till Kvinna and the Swedish Red Cross chaired by the British Embassy Head of Mission, Alison Thorpe. There were also social entrepreneurs from various countries who provided insights to their businesses and their causes.

The event was part of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict hosted in London on 10-13 June, 2014, and co-chaired by the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, William Hague.