Cindy McCain’s Aug. 14 op-ed, “There is no dignity in the sex trade,” criticized Amnesty International’s recent decision to advocate decriminalizing prostitution. Ms. McCain distorted the reasons behind Amnesty International’s decision and the broader reality of commercial sex work. The organization’s position is not, as Ms. McCain claimed, tantamount to endorsing “exploitation” and “degradation.” In fact, the decriminalization decision was motivated by a desire to reduce victimization in sex work.
Ms. McCain, as have many others, conflated sex work with human trafficking and assumed that exploitation and victimization are inherent in sex work. The latter notion has been debunked by research documenting incredible variation in the world of prostitution.
In treating Amnesty International’s proposal as a crazy idea, Ms. McCain ignored the fact that several countries (Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, etc.) have legalized prostitution because they concluded that government regulation is superior to criminalizing and marginalizing those involved.
Ronald Weitzer, Arlington
