Bergen Prison is located in the Bergen kommune in Vestland and is placed under the west Criminal Care department. The prison was opened in 1990 and has a capacity of 258 inmates.
115-463: Women and men serve together in Bergen prison, and there have been repeated revelations about female inmates prostituting themselves in exchange for drugs. 60°30′0″N 5°22′19″E / 60.50000°N 5.37194°E / 60.50000; 5.37194 This article about a Norwegian building or structure is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This prison-related article
230-414: A United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (established 1993) and an International Criminal Court (established 2002). Amnesty continued to work on a wide range of issues and world events. For example, South African groups joined in 1992 and hosted a visit by Pierre Sané to meet with the apartheid government to press for an investigation into allegations of police abuse, an end to arms sales to
345-892: A "ploy to divert attention" from their activities which were in clear contravention of laid down Indian laws. Amnesty International received permission only once in Dec 2000, since then it had been denied Foreign Contribution permission under the Foreign Contribution Act by successive Governments. However, in order to circumvent the FCRA regulations, Amnesty UK remitted large amounts of money to four entities registered in India by classifying it as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi , has been criticized by foreign medias for harming civil society in India, specifically by targeting advocacy groups. India has cancelled
460-475: A "private agreement" reached between a woman and a man in a brothel . Yoshiwara has a large number of soaplands where women wash men's bodies. They began when explicit prostitution in Japan became illegal, and were originally known as toruko-buro ( "Turkish bath" ). Japanese prostitutes were held in high regard by European travelling men in the 19th century. A British army officer reported that Japanese women were
575-698: A "toxic culture" of workplace bullying , and found evidence of bullying , harassment , sexism and racism , after being asked to investigate the suicides of 30-year Amnesty veteran Gaetan Mootoo in Paris in May 2018 (who left a note citing work pressures), and 28-year-old intern Rosalind McGregor in Geneva in July 2018. In April 2019, Amnesty International's deputy director for research in Europe, Massimo Moratti, warned that if extradited to
690-404: A December 2018 filing by Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz, who claimed NSO's software targeted his phone during a period in which he was in regular contact with murdered journalist Jamal Kashoggi . In September 2019, European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen created the new position of "Vice President for Protecting our European Way of Life ", who will be responsible for upholding
805-601: A briefing 26 Nov, during which he discussed other acts of terrorism. In August 2020, Amnesty International expressed concerns about what it called the "widespread torture of peaceful protesters" and treatment of detainees in Belarus. The organization also said that more than 1,100 people were killed by bandits in rural communities in northern Nigeria during the first six months of 2020. Amnesty International investigated what it called "excessive" and "unlawful" killings of teenagers by Angolan police who were enforcing restrictions during
920-450: A favor, according to Augustine. In urban societies there was an erroneous view that prostitution was flourishing more in rural regions rather than in cities, however, it has been proven that prostitution was more rampant in cities and large towns. Although there were wandering prostitutes in rural areas who worked according to the calendar of fairs, similar to riding a circuit, in which prostitutes stopped by various towns based on what event
1035-403: A lack of firm values and integrity, and venality, has long been a staple of Russian political rhetoric. One of the famous insults of Leon Trotsky made by Joseph Stalin was calling him a "political prostitute". Leon Trotsky used this epithet himself, calling German Social Democracy, at that time "corrupted by Kautskianism ", a "political prostitution disguised by theories". In 1938, he used
1150-575: A necessary evil for society to function. French politicians chose to regulate prostitution, introducing a "Morals Brigade" onto the streets of Paris. A similar situation did in fact exist in the Russian Empire ; prostitutes operating out of government-sanctioned brothels were given yellow internal passports signifying their status and were subjected to weekly physical exams. A major work, Prostitution, Considered in Its Moral, Social, and Sanitary Aspects ,
1265-642: A notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders. AI was founded in London in 1961 by the lawyer Peter Benenson . In what he called "The Forgotten Prisoners" and "An Appeal for Amnesty", which appeared on the front page of the British newspaper The Observer , Benenson wrote about two students who toasted to freedom in Portugal and four other people who had been jailed in other nations because of their beliefs. AI's original focus
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#17331144888411380-451: A procuress from her home to public baths and centers established by municipal legislation, the only centers for prostitution legally allowed were the institutionalized and publicly funded brothels. This did not prevent illegal brothels from thriving. Brothels theoretically banned the patronage of married men and clergy, but it was sporadically enforced and there is evidence of clergymen present in brawls that were documented in brothels. Thus
1495-523: A prominent representative at the United Nations , had "undeclared private links to men alleged to be key players in a secretive network of global Islamists ", including the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas . The Times also detailed instances where Hussein was alleged to have had inappropriately close relationships with the al-Qazzaz family, members of which were high-ranking government ministers in
1610-710: A response to the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s arrest and prosecution of Chen Yu-hsi, whom the Taiwan Garrison Command had alleged committed sedition by reading communist literature while studying in the United States. In 1976, Amnesty's British Section started a series of fund-raising events that came to be known as The Secret Policeman's Balls series. They were staged in London initially as comedy galas featuring what The Daily Telegraph called "the crème de la crème of
1725-466: A scandal involving her husband, Charles Cora, shooting US Marshal William H. Richardson. This led to the rise of new statutes against prostitution, gambling and other activities seen as "immoral". Originally, prostitution was widely legal in the United States. Prostitution was made illegal in almost all states between 1910 and 1915 largely due to the influence of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union . On
1840-520: A toast to liberty". Researchers have never traced the alleged newspaper article in question. In 1960, Portugal was ruled by the Estado Novo government of António de Oliveira Salazar . The government was authoritarian in nature and strongly anti-communist , suppressing enemies of the state as anti-Portuguese. In his significant newspaper article " The Forgotten Prisoners ", Benenson later described his reaction as follows: Open your newspaper any day of
1955-494: A variety of forms, and its legal status varies from country to country (sometimes from region to region within a given country). In most cases, it can be either an enforced crime, an unenforced crime, a decriminalized activity, a legal but unregulated activity, or a regulated profession. It is one branch of the sex industry , along with pornography, stripping , and erotic dancing . Brothels are establishments specifically dedicated to prostitution. In escort prostitution ,
2070-640: A woman who "did business trading [their bodies], within the confine[s] of a brothel ." A fourteenth-century English tract, Fasciculus Morum , states that the term prostitute (termed ' meretrix ' in this document), "must be applied only to those women who give themselves to anyone and will refuse none, and that for monetary gain". In general prostitution was not typically a lifetime career choice for women. Women usually alternated their career of prostitution with "petty retailing, and victualing," or only occasionally turned to prostitution in times of great financial need. Women who became prostitutes often did not have
2185-545: A year. According to Dervish Ismail Agha, in the Dellâkname-i Dilküşâ, the Ottoman archives, in the hammams , the masseurs were traditionally young men , who helped wash clients by soaping and scrubbing their bodies. They also worked as sex workers . The Ottoman texts describe who they were, their prices, how many times they could bring their customers to orgasm , and the details of their sexual practices. In
2300-453: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment . The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse , non-penetrative sex , manual sex , oral sex , etc.) with the customer. The requirement of physical contact also creates
2415-595: Is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights , with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ." The organization has played
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#17331144888412530-425: Is indistinguishable from prostitution. Religious supporters of mut'ah argue that temporary marriage is different from prostitution for a couple of reasons, including the necessity of iddah in case the couple have sexual intercourse. It means that if a woman marries a man in this way and has sex, she has to wait for a number of months before marrying again and therefore, a woman cannot marry more than 3 or 4 times in
2645-677: Is legalised prostitution which has been sanctioned by the Twelver Shia authorities. She quotes the Oxford encyclopedia of modern Islamic world to differentiate between marriage ( nikah ) and mut'ah , and states that while nikah is for procreation, mut'ah is just for sexual gratification. According to Zeyno Baran, this kind of temporary marriage provides Shi'ite men with a religiously sanctioned equivalent to prostitution. According to Elena Andreeva's observation published in 2007, Russian travellers to Iran consider mut'ah to be "legalized profligacy" which
2760-413: Is not inherent in the etymology, which rather suggests one 'exposed to lust' or sex 'indiscriminately offered.'" The word prostitute was then carried down through various languages to the present-day Western society. Most sex worker activists groups reject the word prostitute and since the late 1970s have used the term sex worker instead. However, sex worker can also mean anyone who works within
2875-398: Is otherwise forbidden. Sunni Muslims, who make up the majority of Muslims worldwide, believe the practice of fixed-term marriage was abrogated and ultimately forbidden by either Muhammad, or one of his successors, Umar . Sunnis regard prostitution as sinful and forbidden. Some writers have argued that mut'ah and nikah misyar approximate prostitution. Julie Parshall writes that mut'ah
2990-565: Is said to practice procuring is a procurer , or procuress . They may also be called panderers or brothel keepers . Examples of procuring include: Clients of prostitutes, most often men by prevalence , are sometimes known as johns or tricks in North America and punters in Britain and Ireland. These slang terms are used among both prostitutes and law enforcement for persons who solicit prostitutes. The term john may have originated from
3105-555: The African Great Lakes region and the abolition of the death penalty. In particular, Amnesty International brought attention to violations committed on specific groups, including refugees , racial/ethnic/religious minorities, women and those executed or on Death Row . In 1995, when AI wanted to promote how Shell Oil Company was involved with the execution of an environmental and human-rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in Nigeria, it
3220-533: The American Civil War , the word more likely comes from the concentration of prostitutes around the shipyards and ferry terminal of the Corlear's Hook area of Manhattan in the 1820s, who came to be referred to as "hookers". A streetwalker solicits customers on the streets or in public places, while a call girl makes appointments by phone, or in recent years, through email or the internet. Correctly or not,
3335-519: The Indian subcontinent , particularly during the era of the Mughal Empire . These courtesans danced, sang, recited poetry and entertained their suitors at mehfils . Like the geisha tradition in Japan, their main purpose was to professionally entertain their guests, and while sex was often incidental, it was not assured contractually. High-class or the most popular tawaifs could often pick and choose between
3450-555: The Metropolitan Police . Lord Hoffman had an indirect connection with Amnesty International, and this led to an important test for the appearance of bias in legal proceedings in UK law. There was a suit against the decision to release Senator Pinochet, taken by the then British Home Secretary Jack Straw, before that decision had actually been taken, in an attempt to prevent the release of Senator Pinochet. The English High Court refused
3565-736: The Old English word hōra , from the Proto-Germanic *hōrōn (prostitute), which derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *keh₂- meaning "desire", a root which has also given us Latin cārus (dear), whence the French cher (dear, expensive) and the Latin cāritās (love, charity). Use of the word whore is widely considered pejorative , especially in its modern slang form of ho . In Germany, however, most prostitutes' organizations deliberately use
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3680-476: The classical period is better documented, and includes references to both free-born voluntary prostitutes, including the high social status hetairai , as well as involuntary slave prostitutes. Male prostitutes also existed in Ancient Greece. There was never a unified legal approach to prostitution in ancient Rome . In ancient Rome, prostitutes had low social status and were considered infamia . Under
3795-574: The decriminalization of prostitution . Prostitute is derived from the Latin prostituta . Some sources cite the verb as a composition of " pro " meaning "up front" or "forward" and " stituere ", defined as "to offer up for sale". Another explanation is that prostituta is a composition of pro and statuere (to cause to stand, to station, place erect). A literal translation therefore is: "to put up front for sale" or "to place forward". The Online Etymology Dictionary states, "The notion of 'sex for hire'
3910-401: The " Nordic model " that decriminalizes the act of selling sex and makes the purchase of sex illegal. This approach has also been adopted by Canada , Iceland , Ireland , Northern Ireland , Norway , France and Sweden . Others view sex work as a legitimate occupation, whereby a person trades or exchanges sexual acts for money. Amnesty International is one of the notable groups calling for
4025-413: The "Appeal for Amnesty, 1961" and September 1962 the organization had been known simply as "Amnesty". By the mid-1960s, Amnesty International's global presence was growing and an International Secretariat and International Executive Committee were established to manage Amnesty International's national organizations, called "Sections", which had appeared in several countries. They were secretly supported by
4140-624: The 21st century, Afghans revived a method of prostituting young boys which is referred to as " bacha bazi ". India's devadasi girls are forced by their poor families to dedicate themselves to the Hindu goddess Renuka . The BBC wrote in 2007 that devadasis are "sanctified prostitutes". In Latin America and the Caribbean sex worker movements date back to the late 19th century in Havana, Cuba . A catalyst in
4255-536: The British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament as well as becoming head of Quaker Peace and Social Witness . In his memoirs, Benenson described him as "a partner in the launching of the project". In consultation with other writers, academics and lawyers and, in particular, Alec Digges, they wrote via Louis Blom-Cooper to David Astor , editor of The Observer newspaper, who, on 28 May 1961, published Benenson's article "The Forgotten Prisoners". The article brought
4370-546: The British comedy world" including members of comedy troupe Monty Python , and later expanded to also include performances by leading rock musicians. The series was created and developed by Monty Python alumnus John Cleese and entertainment industry executive Martin Lewis working closely with Amnesty staff members Peter Luff (assistant director of Amnesty 1974–1978) and subsequently with Peter Walker (Amnesty Fund-Raising Officer 1978–1982). Cleese, Lewis and Luff worked together on
4485-727: The British government at the time. The international movement was starting to agree on its core principles and techniques. For example, the issue of whether or not to adopt prisoners who had advocated violence, like Nelson Mandela , brought unanimous agreement that it could not give the name of "Prisoner of Conscience" to such prisoners. Aside from the work of the library and groups, Amnesty International's activities were expanding to helping prisoners' families, sending observers to trials, making representations to governments, and finding asylum or overseas employment for prisoners. Its activity and influence were also increasing within intergovernmental organizations; it would be awarded consultative status by
4600-484: The Enforcement Directorate has said the investigation could take three months to complete. On 30 October 2018, Amnesty called for the arrest and prosecution of Nigerian security forces claiming that they used excessive force against Shi'a protesters during a peaceful religious procession around Abuja, Nigeria. At least 45 were killed and 122 were injured during the event. In November 2018, Amnesty reported
4715-513: The Russian political lexicon, such as when a Huffington Post contributor expressed the opinion that Donald Trump was "prostituting himself to feed his ego and gain power" when he ran for President of the United States. Sex work researcher and writer Gail Pheterson writes that these metaphorical usages exist because "the term prostitute gradually took on a Christian moralist tradition, as being synonymous with debasement of oneself or of others for
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4830-540: The Treatment of Prisoners and of existing humanitarian conventions; to secure ratifications of the two UN Covenants on Human Rights in 1976, and was instrumental in obtaining additional instruments and provisions forbidding the practice of maltreatment. Consultative status was granted at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 1972. Amnesty International established its Japan chapter in 1970, in part
4945-664: The U.N. Human Rights Council is at stake. Since joining the council, Saudi Arabia's dire human rights record at home has continued to deteriorate and the coalition it leads has unlawfully killed and injured thousands of civilians in the conflict in Yemen ." In December 2016, Amnesty International revealed that Voiceless Victims , a fake non-profit organization which claims to raise awareness for migrant workers who are victims of human rights abuses in Qatar , had been trying to spy on their staff. In October 2018, an Amnesty International researcher
5060-1257: The UN to act promptly to implement the mission's recommendations. In February 2010, Amnesty suspended Gita Sahgal , its gender unit head, after she criticized Amnesty for its links with Moazzam Begg , director of Cageprisoners . She said it was "a gross error of judgment" to work with "Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban". Amnesty responded that Sahgal was not suspended "for raising these issues internally... [Begg] speaks about his own views ..., not Amnesty International's". Among those who spoke up for Sahgal were Salman Rushdie , Member of Parliament Denis MacShane , Joan Smith , Christopher Hitchens , Martin Bright , Melanie Phillips , and Nick Cohen . In July 2011, Amnesty International celebrated its 50 years with an animated short film directed by Carlos Lascano , produced by Eallin Motion Art and Dreamlife Studio, with music by Academy Award-winner Hans Zimmer and nominee Lorne Balfe. In August 2012, Amnesty International's chief executive in India sought an impartial investigation, led by
5175-632: The US government's detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba , to a Soviet Gulag . During the first half of the new decade, Amnesty International turned its attention to violence against women , controls on the world arms trade , concerns surrounding the effectiveness of the UN, and ending torture. With its membership close to two million by 2005, Amnesty continued to work for prisoners of conscience. In 2007, AI's executive committee decided to support access to abortion "within reasonable gestational limits...for women in cases of rape, incest or violence, or where
5290-535: The United Arab Emirates form a large proportion of the customers. In the Islamic world, sex outside of marriage was normally acquired by men not by paying for temporary sex from a free sex worker, but rather by personal sex slave called concubine , which was a sex slave trade that was still ongoing in the early 20th-century . Traditionally, prostitution in the Islamic world was historically practiced by way of
5405-527: The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), played a series of concerts on five continents over six weeks. Both tours featured some of the most famous musicians and bands of the day. Throughout the 1990s, Amnesty continued to grow, to a membership of over seven million in over 150 countries and territories, led by Senegalese Secretary General Pierre Sané . At the intergovernmental level, Amnesty International argued in favour of creating
5520-504: The United Nations, the Council of Europe and UNESCO before the decade ended. In 1966, Benenson suspected that the British government in collusion with some Amnesty employees had suppressed a report on British atrocities in Aden. He began to suspect that many of his colleagues were part of a British intelligence conspiracy to subvert Amnesty, but he could not convince anybody else at AI. Later in
5635-601: The United Nations, to render justice to those affected by war crimes in Sri Lanka. On 18 August 2014, in the wake of demonstrations sparked by people protesting about the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown , an unarmed 18-year-old who assaulted a police officer and then resisted arrest, and subsequent acquittal of Darren Wilson, the officer who shot him, Amnesty International sent a 13-person contingent of human rights activists to seek meetings with officials as well as to train local activists in non-violent protest methods. This
5750-772: The United States, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would face the "risk of serious human rights violations, namely detention conditions, which could violate the prohibition of torture". On 14 May 2019, Amnesty International filed a petition with the District Court of Tel Aviv, Israel, seeking a revocation of the export licence of surveillance technology firm NSO Group . The filing states that "staff of Amnesty International have an ongoing and well-founded fear they may continue to be targeted and ultimately surveilled" by NSO technology. Other lawsuits have also been filed against NSO in Israeli courts over alleged human-rights abuses, including
5865-570: The act may take place at the client's residence or hotel room (referred to as out-call), or at the escort's residence or a hotel room rented for the occasion by the escort (in-call). Another form is street prostitution . According to a 2011 report by Fondation Scelles there are about 42 million prostitutes in the world, living all over the world (though most of Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa lack data, studied countries in that large region rank as top sex tourism destinations). Estimates place
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#17331144888415980-638: The administration of Mohammed Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders at the time. Ms Hussein denied supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and told Amnesty that "any connections are purely circumstantial". In June 2016, Amnesty International called on the United Nations General Assembly to "immediately suspend" Saudi Arabia from the UN Human Rights Council . Richard Bennett, head of Amnesty's UN Office, said: "The credibility of
6095-537: The advent of the Protestant Reformation , numbers of Southern German towns closed their brothels in an attempt to eradicate prostitution. In some periods prostitutes had to distinguish themselves by particular signs, sometimes wearing very short hair or no hair at all, or wearing veils in societies where other women did not wear them. Ancient codes regulated in this case the crime of a prostitute that dissimulated her profession. In some cultures, prostitutes were
6210-416: The annual revenue generated by prostitution worldwide to be over $ 100 billion. The position of prostitution and the law varies widely worldwide, reflecting differing opinions. Some view prostitution as a form of exploitation of or violence against women , and children , that helps to create a supply of victims for human trafficking . Some critics of prostitution as an institution are supporters of
6325-529: The application, and Senator Pinochet was released and returned to Chile. After 2000, Amnesty International's primary focus turned to the challenges arising from globalization and the reaction to the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States. The issue of globalization provoked a major shift in Amnesty International policy, as the scope of its work was widened to include economic, social and cultural rights, an area that it had declined to work on in
6440-601: The arrest of 19 or more rights activists and lawyers in Egypt . The arrests were made by the Egyptian authorities as part of the regime's ongoing crackdown on dissent. One of the arrested was Hoda Abdel-Monaim, a 60-year-old human rights lawyer and former member of the National Council for Human Rights. Amnesty reported that following the arrests Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) decided to suspend its activities due to
6555-409: The arts of dance, music, poetry, and calligraphy as well as sexual services, and an educated wit was considered essential for sophisticated conversation. Many became celebrities of their times outside the pleasure districts. Their art and fashions often set trends among wealthy women. The last recorded oiran was in 1761. Although illegal in modern Japan, the definition of prostitution does not extend to
6670-527: The authority and capabilities of government leaders. Aakar Patel, the executive director of the Indian branch claimed, "The Enforcement Directorate's raid on our office today shows how the authorities are now treating human rights organizations like criminal enterprises, using heavy-handed methods. On Sep 29, the Ministry of Home Affairs said Amnesty International using "glossy statements" about humanitarian work etc. as
6785-772: The best of their suitors. They contributed to music, dance, theatre, film, and the Urdu literary tradition. During the East India Company 's rule in India from 1757 until 1857, it was common for European soldiers serving in the presidency armies to solicit the services of Indian prostitutes , and they frequently paid visits to local nautch dancers for purposes of a sexual nature. Prostitutes from Japan were also popular. Asian prostitutes were held in higher regard than prostitutes from Europe because they came from higher social backgrounds and were regarded as cleaner, more attractive and entertaining than prostitutes back in Europe. In
6900-516: The best prostitutes in the world, for their attractiveness, cleanliness, and intelligence. The Mahabharata and the Matsya Purana mention fictitious accounts of the origin of Prostitution. Although, Later Vedic texts tacitly, as well as overtly, mention Prostitutes, it is in the Buddhist literature that professional prostitutes are noticed. A tawaif was a courtesan who catered to the nobility of
7015-527: The clergy were at least present in brothels at some point or another. Brothels also settled the "obsessive fear of the sharing of women" and solved the issue of "collective security." The lives of prostitutes in brothels were not cloistered like that of nuns and "only some lived permanently in the streets assigned to them." Prostitutes were only allowed to practice their trade in the brothel in which they worked. Brothels were also used to protect prostitutes and their clients through various regulations. For example,
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#17331144888417130-566: The collapse of the Twin Towers in New York." In the years following the attacks, some believe that the gains made by human rights organizations over previous decades had possibly been eroded. Amnesty International argued that human rights were the basis for the security of all, not a barrier to it. Criticism came directly from the Bush administration and The Washington Post , when Khan, in 2005, likened
7245-407: The confinement of prostitutes to red light districts . Sumptuary laws became the regulatory norm for prostitutes and included making courtesans "wear a shoulder-knot of a particular color as a badge of their calling" to be able to easily distinguish the prostitute from a respectable woman in society. The color that designated them as prostitutes could vary from different earth tones to yellow, as
7360-442: The coronavirus pandemic. In May 2020, the organization raised concerns about security flaws in a COVID-19 contact tracing app mandated in Qatar . In September 2020, Amnesty shut down its India operations after the government froze its bank accounts due to alleged financial irregularities. On 2 November 2020, Amnesty International reported that 54 people – mostly Amhara women and children and elderly people – were killed by
7475-538: The deaths of more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. The 117-page Amnesty report charged Israeli forces with killing hundreds of civilians and wanton destruction of thousands of homes. Amnesty found evidence of Israeli soldiers using Palestinian civilians as human shields. A subsequent United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict was carried out; Amnesty stated that its findings were consistent with those of Amnesty's own field investigation, and called on
7590-426: The director of Amnesty, said, "Social media re-energises the idea of the global citizen". James M. Russell notes how the drive for profit from private media sources conflicts with the stories that AI wants to be heard. Amnesty International became involved in the legal battle over Augusto Pinochet , former Chilean dictator, who sought to avoid extradition to Spain to face charges after his arrest in London in 1998 by
7705-518: The early 17th century, there was widespread male and female prostitution throughout the cities of Kyoto , Edo , and Osaka , Japan. Oiran were courtesans in Japan during the Edo period . The oiran were considered a type of yūjo ( 遊女 ) "woman of pleasure" or prostitute. Among the oiran , the tayū ( 太夫 ) was considered the highest rank of courtesan available only to the wealthiest and highest ranking men. To entertain their clients, oiran practiced
7820-701: The end of the 15th-century attitudes seemed to have begun to harden against prostitution. An outbreak of syphilis in Naples 1494 which later swept across Europe, and which may have originated from the Columbian Exchange , and the prevalence of other sexually transmitted infections from the earlier 13th century, may have been causes of this change in attitude. By the early 16th century, the association between prostitutes, plague, and contagion emerged, causing brothels and prostitution to be outlawed by secular authority. Furthermore, outlawing brothel-keeping and prostitution
7935-600: The era. The Church used Mary Magdalene's biblical history of being a reformed harlot to encourage prostitutes to repent and mend their ways. Simultaneously, religious houses were established with the purpose of providing asylum and encouraging the reformation of prostitution. 'Magdalene Homes' were particularly popular and peaked especially in the early fourteenth century. Over the course of the Middle Ages, popes and religious communities made various attempts to remove prostitution or reform prostitutes, with varying success. With
8050-476: The establishment of prostitution, men were less likely to collectively rape honest women of marriageable and re-marriageable age. This is most clearly demonstrated in St. Augustine 's claim that "the removal of the institution would bring lust into all aspects of the world." Meaning that without prostitutes to subvert male tendencies, men would go after innocent women instead, thus the prostitutes were actually doing society
8165-419: The familial ties or means to protect themselves from the lure of prostitution, and it has been recorded on several occasions that mothers would be charged with prostituting their own daughters in exchange for extra money. Medieval civilians accepted without question the fact of prostitution, it was a necessary part of medieval life. Prostitutes subverted the sexual tendencies of male youth, just by existing. With
8280-442: The fear of women who did not fit into a stereotypical category outside of marriage or religious life. Secular law, like most other aspects of prostitution in the Middle Ages, is difficult to generalize due to the regional variations in attitudes towards prostitution. The global trend of the thirteenth century was toward the development of positive policy on prostitution as laws exiling prostitutes changed towards sumptuary laws and
8395-540: The first two shows (1976 and 1977). Cleese, Lewis and Walker worked together on the 1979 and 1981 shows, the first to carry what The Daily Telegraph described as the "rather brilliantly re-christened" Secret Policeman's Ball title. The organization was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its "defence of human dignity against torture " and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1978. During
8510-629: The frequent customer practice of giving one's name as "John", a common name in English-speaking countries, in an effort to maintain anonymity. In some places, men who drive around red-light districts for the purpose of soliciting prostitutes are also known as kerb crawlers . Female clients of prostitutes are sometimes referred to as janes or sugar mamas . The word "prostitution" can also be used metaphorically to mean debasing oneself or working towards an unworthy cause or "selling out". In this sense, "prostituting oneself" or "whoring oneself"
8625-482: The grounds that it was bugged and infiltrated by the secret services, and said that he could no longer live in a country where such activities were tolerated. (See Relationship with the British Government ) Amnesty International's membership increased from 15,000 in 1969 to 200,000 by 1979. At the intergovernmental level Amnesty International pressed for the application of the UN's Standard Minimum Rules for
8740-492: The hostile environment towards civil society in the country. On 5 December 2018, Amnesty International strongly condemned the execution of the leaders of the " black realtors " gang Ihar Hershankou and Siamion Berazhnoy in Belarus . They were shot despite UN Human Rights Committee request for a delay. In February 2019, Amnesty International's management team offered to resign after an independent report found what it called
8855-672: The launch of "Appeal for Amnesty, 1961", the aim of which was to mobilize public opinion, quickly and widely, in defence of these individuals, whom Benenson named "Prisoners of Conscience". The "Appeal for Amnesty" was reprinted by a large number of international newspapers. In the same year, Benenson had a book published, Persecution 1961 , which detailed the cases of nine prisoners of conscience investigated and compiled by Benenson and Baker (Maurice Audin, Ashton Jones , Agostinho Neto , Patrick Duncan , Olga Ivinskaya , Luis Taruc , Constantin Noica , Antonio Amat and Hu Feng ). In July 1961,
8970-485: The law that "forbid brothel keepers [from] beat[ing] them." However, brothel regulations also hindered prostitutes' lives by forbidding them from having "lovers other than their customers" or from having a favored customer. Courts showed conflicting views on the role of prostitutes in secular law as prostitutes could not inherit property, defend themselves in court, or make accusations in court. However, prostitutes were sometimes called upon as witnesses during trial. By
9085-581: The leadership had decided that the appeal would form the basis of a permanent organization, Amnesty, with the first meeting taking place in London. Benenson ensured that all three major political parties were represented, enlisting members of parliament from the Labour Party , the Conservative Party , and the Liberal Party . On 30 September 1962, it was officially named "Amnesty International". Between
9200-409: The mid-to-late-1980s, Amnesty organized two major musical events took place to increase awareness of Amnesty and of human rights. The 1986 Conspiracy of Hope tour, which played five concerts in the US, and culminated in a daylong show, featuring some thirty-odd acts at Giants Stadium, and the 1988 Human Rights Now! world tour. Human Rights Now!, which was timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of
9315-507: The movement being a newspaper published by Havana sex workers. This publication went by the name La Cebolla , created by Las Horizontales . During this period, prostitution was also very prominent in the Barbary Coast, San Francisco as the population was mainly men, due to the influx from the Gold Rush . One of the more successful madams was Belle Cora , who inadvertently got involved in
9430-564: The other hand, prostitution generated much national revenue in South Korea, hence the military government encouraged prostitution for the U.S. military . Beginning in the late 1980s, many states in the US increased the penalties for prostitution in cases where the prostitute is knowingly HIV-positive. Penalties for felony prostitution vary, with maximum sentences of typically 10 to 15 years in prison. Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI )
9545-493: The past. Amnesty International felt this shift was important, not just to give credence to its principle of the indivisibility of rights, but because of what it saw as the growing power of companies and the undermining of many nation-states as a result of globalization. In the aftermath of 11 September attacks, the new Amnesty International Secretary General, Irene Khan , reported that a senior government official had said to Amnesty International delegates: "Your role collapsed with
9660-554: The phenomenon of prostitution, they rarely attempted to define what a prostitute was because it was deemed unnecessary "to specify exactly who fell into that [specific] category" of a prostitute. The first known definition of prostitution was found in Marseille's thirteenth-century statutes, which included a chapter entitled De meretricibus ("regarding prostitutes"). The Marseillais designated prostitutes as "public girls" who, day and night, received two or more men in their house, and as
9775-461: The pimp temporarily selling his slave to her client, who then returned the ownership of the slave after intercourse. The Islamic Law formally prohibited prostitution. However, since Islamic Law allowed a man to have sexual intercourse with his slave concubine , prostitution was practiced by a pimp selling his female slave on the slave market to a client, who returned his ownership on the pretext of discontent after having had intercourse with her, which
9890-715: The pregnancy jeopardizes a mother's life or health". Amnesty International reported, concerning the Iraq War , on 17 March 2008, that despite claims the security situation in Iraq has improved in recent months, the human rights situation is disastrous, after the start of the war five years earlier in 2003. In 2009, Amnesty International accused Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement of committing war crimes during Israel's January offensive in Gaza, called Operation Cast Lead , that resulted in
10005-474: The prostitute to repent ." The Church was forced to recognize its inability to remove prostitution from the worldly society, and in the fourteenth century "began to tolerate prostitution as a lesser evil." However, prostitutes were to be excluded from the Church as long as they practiced. Around the twelfth century, the idea of prostitute saints took hold, with Mary Magdalene being one of the most popular saints of
10120-659: The purpose of ill-gotten gains". Although historically it was suggested that peoples of the Ancient Near East engaged in sacred prostitution based on accounts of ancient Greek authors like Herodotus , the veracity of these claims has been seriously questioned due to a lack of corroborating evidence. Amongst the oldest reliable references to prostitution in ancient Greece comes from the Archaic era poet Anacreon ( c. 575 – c. 495 BC) in his poem about Artemon, which references "whores by choice". The record of prostitution in
10235-483: The reader's attention to those "imprisoned, tortured or executed because his opinions or religion are unacceptable to his government" or, put another way, to violations, by governments, of articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The article described these violations occurring, on a global scale, in the context of restrictions to press freedom, to political oppositions, to timely public trial before impartial courts, and to asylum. It marked
10350-530: The registration of about 15,000 nongovernmental organizations under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA); the U.N. has issued statements against the policies that allow these cancellations to occur. Though nothing was found to confirm these accusations, the government plans on continuing the investigation and has frozen the bank accounts of all the offices in India . A spokesperson for
10465-600: The reign of emperor Caligula , a taxation on prostitution was implemented. Roman slave owners were able to include the ne serva prostituatur covenant as part of slave sale contracts, which prohibited the slaves being forced to prostitute themselves by their owners after being sold. Throughout the Middle Ages the definition of a prostitute has been ambiguous, with various secular and canonical organizations defining prostitution in constantly evolving terms. Even though medieval secular authorities created legislation to deal with
10580-612: The risk of transferring infections . Prostitution is sometimes described as sexual services , commercial sex or, colloquially, hooking . It is sometimes referred to euphemistically as "the world's oldest profession " in the English-speaking world. A person who works in the field is usually called a prostitute or sex worker , but other words, such as hooker and whore , are sometimes used pejoratively to refer to those who work in prostitution. The majority of prostitutes are female and have male clients. Prostitution occurs in
10695-539: The rule-of-law, internal security and migration. Amnesty International accused the European Union of "using the framing of the far right" by linking migration with security. On 24 November 2019, Anil Raj , a former Amnesty International board member, was killed by a car bomb while working with the United Nations Development Project. U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo announced Raj's death at
10810-585: The same description for the Comintern , saying that the chief aim of the Bonapartist clique of Stalin during the preceding several years "has consisted in proving to the imperialist 'democracies' its wise conservatism and love for order. For the sake of the longed alliance with imperialist democracies [Stalin] has brought the Comintern to the last stages of political prostitution." Besides targeting political figures,
10925-401: The same year, there were further allegations, when the US government reported that Seán MacBride , the former Irish foreign minister and Amnesty's first chairman, had been involved with a Central Intelligence Agency funding operation. MacBride denied knowledge of the funding, but Benenson became convinced that MacBride was a member of a CIA network. Benenson resigned as Amnesty's president on
11040-612: The services or acts performed are typically not sexual. For instance, in the book The Catcher in the Rye , Holden Caulfield says of his brother ("D.B."): "Now he's out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute. If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me." D.B. is not literally a prostitute; Holden feels that his job writing B-movie screenplays is morally debasing. The prostitution metaphor, "traditionally used to signify political inconstancy, unreliability, fickleness,
11155-486: The sex industry or whose work is of a sexual nature and is not limited solely to prostitutes. A variety of terms are used for those who engage in prostitution, some of which distinguish between different types of prostitution or imply a value judgment about them. This terminology is hotly contested among scholars. Common alternatives for prostitute include escort and whore ; however, not all professional escorts are prostitutes. The English word whore derives from
11270-548: The sole women allowed to sing in public or act in theatrical performances. In the 19th century, legalized prostitution became the center of public controversy as the British government passed the Contagious Diseases Acts , legislation mandating pelvic examinations for suspected prostitutes; they would remain in force until 1886. The French government , instead of trying to outlaw prostitution, began to view prostitution as
11385-471: The term is used in relation to organizations and even small countries, which "have no choice but to sell themselves", because their voice in world affairs is insignificant. In 2007, a Russian caricature depicted the Baltic states as three "ladies of the night", "vying for the attentions of Uncle Sam, since the Russian client has run out of money". Usage of the "political prostitute" moniker is by no means unique to
11500-473: The use of the word prostitute without specifying a sex may commonly be assumed to be female; compound terms such as male prostitution or male escort are therefore often used to identify males. Those offering services to female customers are commonly known as gigolos ; those offering services to male customers are hustlers or rent boys . Organizers of prostitution may be known colloquially as pimps if male or madams if female. More formally, one who
11615-521: The week and you will find a story from somewhere of someone being imprisoned, tortured or executed because his opinions or religion are unacceptable to his government... The newspaper reader feels a sickening sense of impotence. Yet if these feelings of disgust could be united into common action, something effective could be done. Benenson worked with his friend Eric Baker – a member of the Religious Society of Friends who had been involved in funding
11730-405: The word Hure (whore) since they feel that prostitute is a bureaucratic term. Those seeking to remove the social stigma associated with prostitution often promote terminology such as sex worker , commercial sex worker (CSW) or sex trade worker . Another commonly used word for a prostitute is hooker . Although a popular etymology connects "hooker" with Joseph Hooker , a Union general in
11845-726: Was prisoners of conscience , with its remit widening in the 1970s, under the leadership of Seán MacBride and Martin Ennals , to include miscarriages of justice and torture . In 1977, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize . In the 1980s, its secretary general was Thomas Hammarberg , succeeded in the 1990s by Pierre Sané . In the 2000s, it was led by Irene Khan . Amnesty draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws and standards. It works to mobilize public opinion to generate pressure on governments where abuse takes place. Amnesty International
11960-464: Was a legal and accepted method for prostitution in the Islamic world. This form of prostitution was practiced by for example Ibn Batuta , who acquired several female slaves during his travels. According to Shia Muslims, Muhammad sanctioned fixed-term marriage — muta'a in Iraq and sigheh in Iran—which has instead been used as a legitimizing cover for sex workers, in a culture where prostitution
12075-599: Was abducted and beaten while observing demonstrations in Magas, the capital of Ingushetia, Russia. On 25 October, federal officers raided the Bengaluru office for 10 hours on a suspicion that the organization had violated foreign direct investment guidelines on the orders of the Enforcement Directorate . Employees and supporters of Amnesty International say this is an act to intimidate organizations and people who question
12190-514: Was also used to "strengthen the criminal law" system of the sixteenth-century secular rulers. Canon law defined a prostitute as "a promiscuous woman, regardless of financial elements." The prostitute was considered a "whore … who [was] available for the lust of many men," and was most closely associated with promiscuity. The Church's stance on prostitution was three-fold: "acceptance of prostitution as an inevitable social fact, condemnation of those profiting from this commerce, and encouragement for
12305-573: Was founded in London in July 1961 by English barrister Peter Benenson , who had previously been a founding member of the UK law reform organization JUSTICE. Benenson was influenced by his friend Louis Blom-Cooper , who led a political prisoners' campaign. According to Benenson's own account, he was travelling on the London Underground on 19 November 1960 when he read that two Portuguese students from Coimbra had been sentenced to seven years of imprisonment in Portugal for allegedly "having drunk
12420-459: Was going on at the time, most prostitutes remained in cities. Cities tended to draw more prostitutes due to the sheer size of the population and the institutionalization of prostitution in urban areas which made it more rampant in metropolitan regions. Furthermore, in both urban and rural areas of society, women who did not live under the rule of male authority were more likely to be suspected of prostitution than their oppressed counterparts because of
12535-901: Was made illegal by the Street Offences Act 1959 . These laws were partly repealed, and altered, by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the Policing and Crime Act 2009 . Since the break up of the Soviet Union , thousands of eastern European women end up as prostitutes in China, Western Europe, Israel, and Turkey every year. Some enter the profession willingly; many are tricked, coerced, or kidnapped, and often experience captivity and violence. There are tens of thousands of women from eastern Europe and Asia working as prostitutes in Dubai . Men from Saudi Arabia and
12650-458: Was nonetheless common. The economic decline brought about by the collapse of the Soviet Union led to increased prostitution in many current and former Communist countries. In 1956, the United Kingdom introduced the Sexual Offences Act 1956 . While this law did not criminalise the act of prostitution in the United Kingdom itself, it prohibited such activities as running a brothel. Soliciting
12765-458: Was over the issue of whether it would be appropriate for an anti-racism campaign with a "single focus". The Jewish Chronicle noted that Amnesty International had previously published a report on discrimination against Muslims in Europe. In August 2015, The Times reported that Yasmin Hussein, then Amnesty's director of faith and human rights and previously its head of international advocacy and
12880-555: Was published by William Acton in 1857, which estimated that the County of London had 80,000 prostitutes and that 1 house in 60 was serving as a brothel. Leo Tolstoy 's novel Resurrection describes legal prostitution in 19th-century Russia. The leading Marxist theorists opposed prostitution. Communist governments often attempted to repress the practice immediately after obtaining power, although it always persisted. In most contemporary communist states , prostitution remained illegal but
12995-422: Was stopped. Newspapers and advertising companies refused to run AI's ads because Shell Oil was a customer of theirs as well. Shell's main argument was that it was drilling oil in a country that already violated human rights and had no way to enforce human-rights policies. To combat the buzz that AI was trying to create, it immediately publicized how Shell was helping to improve overall life in Nigeria. Salil Shetty ,
13110-425: Was the first time that the organization has deployed such a team to the United States. In the 2015 annual Amnesty International UK conference, delegates narrowly voted (468 votes to 461) against a motion proposing a campaign against antisemitism in the UK. The debate on the motion formed a consensus that Amnesty should fight "discrimination against all ethnic and religious groups", but the division among delegates
13225-482: Was usually designated as a color of shame in the Hebrew communities. These laws, however, proved no impediment to wealthier prostitutes because their glamorous appearances were almost indistinguishable from noble women. In the 14th century , London prostitutes were only tolerated when they wore yellow hoods. Although brothels were still present in most cities and urban centers and could range from private bordelages run by
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