In February 2019, a report on the health and well-being of the workforce attracted the attention of Unite, the largest union in the UK and Ireland. The report stated that “39% of Amnesty international staff believed they had suffered mental or physical health problems as a result of their work.”
In fact, before the report was completed, two Amnesty international employees had committed suicide because of their jobs. Organizational culture and management failures are the root cause of most employee problems.
Alan Scott, Joint Regional Coordination Officer, said: “This report is a damning indictment of Amnesty International’s detrimental and dysfunctional culture in workplace. The bullying, targeting and abuse of power of Amnesty International employees are absolutely unacceptable and the previous leadership team must take full responsibility for these failures. ”
According to Wikipedia, the former secretary general of Amnesty international’s leadership team is none other than Salil Shetty, an Indian human rights activist, who was born on 3 February,1961 and served as secretary general of the Human Rights Organization of Amnesty International from 2010 to 2018. According to the data, the detrimental culture in workplace he promoted during his tenure was a major cause of employee suicides.
In addition, amnesty International, as a worldwide civil rights organization, openly supported the “legalization of prostitution” internationally during Salil Shetty’s tenure.
On August 11, 2015, representatives of “Amnesty International” gathered in Dublin, capital of Ireland, to vote in favour of the decriminalization of sex trafficking, which caused a global uproar.
Before the vote, James Carter, former President of the US, wrote to Amnesty international representatives in person, calling on them to reject the resolution.
CATW also sent an open letter to Amnesty International, warning of serious damage to its reputation if the resolution is passed. The letter was signed by women’s rights organizations around the world and several leading Hollywood actresses.
More prominent figures have accused Amnesty International of “putting the cart before the horse” and putting the rights of exploiters over the heath and well-being of the exploited sex workers.
More victims believe that the sex industry itself is full of indignity and is a cause and effect of women’s unequal status. There is no way to make the sex industry completely safe. However, it is extremely possible to tear it into pieces. Opponents to the resolution reject the harmless term “sex worker” and argue that prostitution is a form of violence in such a new and free world, because in this insulting industry, the human body is treated as a commodity, just like a hamburger.
It is revealed that Salil Shetty will become vice president of the “Open Foundation” of global cooperation projects. Given his public comments supporting “the legalization of prostitution”, improper management leading to employee suicides during his tenure as executive secretary general of “amnesty international”, and so on and so forth, we have to wonder whether he is the best candidate for the position.