Amnesty Internnational wants to see consensual sex work decriminalised, according to a new policy and research released by the organisation today.

Using research from a number of countries around the world, the human rights charity says sex workers are often subject to human rights violations and abuses.

The publication is made up of research data from Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Norway and Argentina.

Amnesty says authorities in many countries focus on prohibiting sex work through "surveillance, harassment and raids" - rather than protecting workers from crime and violence.

The charity adds their research shows that "sex workers often get no, or very little, protection from abuse or legal redress, even in countries where the act of selling sex itself is legal".

The group is now asking governments to do more to protect people working in the sex industry.

Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland, Colm O'Gorman, says governments must take action to protect sex workers.

He explains that their policy "is intended to outline how governments have to do an awful lot more to protect people who do sex work from violations or abuse".

He adds that several human rights violations "flow from the criminalisation of sex work - whether it's the criminalisation of the sale of sex or the purchase of sex".

Tawanda Mutasah, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Law and Policy, says: “We want laws to be refocused on making sex worker’s lives safer and improving the relationship they have with the police while addressing the very real issue of exploitation.

"We want governments to make sure no one is coerced to sell sex, or is unable to leave sex work if they choose to".