Statement: Justice for the victims of Simon Levy means more than a conviction. It must mean change.

Sheryl Wilkins was murdered by Simon Levy—a man who had previously attacked women, had been convicted of violence against women, had been investigated in connection with the murder of Carmen Valencia Trujillo, and was nevertheless released on bail. Just four months later, he murdered Ms Wilkins.

Women in our network who worked in the same area as Ms Wilkins say her death could have been prevented if the police had prioritised sex workers’ safety over the criminalisation and persecution of sex workers. Instead, police operations like Clear, Hold, Build, led to women being harassed, arrested, displaced from familiar areas, subjected to ASBOs and closure orders, and treated as criminals rather than protected from violent men.

ECP’s Niki Adams said:

“This case must lead to real change. Sex workers’ safety must be prioritised. Violent men target sex workers because they think they will get away with it because our lives and our safety aren’t a priority. We face saturation policing and no protection. We demand a change in the law so that sex workers, most of whom are mothers, are no longer criminalised for working to make a living. The laws give the police justification for treating us like criminals. One woman was violently raped by Levy and when she reported it, she herself was prosecuted. What will happen to those police officers? Will they be prosecuted for treating her like that? A violent sexual predator and attacker like Simon Levy was freed again and again after attacking women because women’s lives and safety aren’t seen as a priority. The laws have to be changed so that sex workers are no longer criminalised and we can report violence without fear of arrest or fear of deportation for those of us who are migrant women.”

Criminalisation of sex work pushes women into greater danger, forces us into unfamiliar places, and makes it easier for violent offenders to prey on us. We demand decriminalisation. We demand that sex workers lives are valued. We demand that no more lives are lost because women’s safety is treated as less important than enforcing unjust laws.