As individuals and organisations concerned with health and safety, we believe that legislation on prostitution should be judged first of all by whether it helps sex workers, especially women and their families. We don’t think the Policing and Crime Bill now before parliament does that. The harsher definition of persistent soliciting (twice over a period […]
BY RACHEL WESTTaking advantage of the recent turmoil over the huge city budget cuts, Mayor Gavin Newsom and Sup. Carmen Chu, have pushed though malicious legislation imposing criminal charges and restrictions on massage parlors. Many are outraged that this costly legislation was prioritized — we want to know why it was, and how much it […]
Protect workers’ safety! Stop the closure of massage parlors! Stop targeting immigrant sex workers!Under the pretence of stopping sex trafficking, Supervisor Carmen Chu and Mayor Newsom want to impose criminal charges and exorbitant fines on massage parlors despite workers’ concerns that it will push the industry underground making them more vulnerable to violence and exploitation. […]
Introduction and methodologyIn May 2009, the English Collective of Prostitutes and Women Against Rape conducted a survey of women working in the sex industry. We distributed a total of 125 questionnaires, mainly by women enthusiastically passing them onto friends and workmates, and received 77 replies (all women with one exception) – a remarkably high response rate of […]
Catherine HealyNew Zealand Prostitutes Collectiveinfo@nzpc.org.nzDear ECP,I enclose below as requested information about the Prostitution Reform Act which decriminalised prostitution in New Zealand six years ago.In summary the law means that street based sex workers can operate without any legal restriction on their sex work, but are subject to public nuisance, noise, litter controls, etc., the […]
By the English Collective of Prostitutes. Co-ordinators of the SAFETY FIRST COALITION House of Lords, second reading Wednesday 3 June. Using flawed trafficking statistics as justification, the measures target anyone involved in prostitution whether or not there is force or coercion. They would drive prostitution further underground and sex workers into even more danger. In […]
Policing and Crime BillSecond Reading, House of Lords, 3 June 2009Moved By Lord West of SpitheadBaroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: (Lib Dem) The Bill is the 66th criminal justice Bill since 1997. Between them, they have created 3,600 new criminal offences. We feel that the Government have still failed to understand that you cannot solve social problems by […]
Letters in The GuardianIf the Poppy Project is concerned about prostitutes being criminalised, where is it when the law raids, detains and deports women (Letters, 26 May); when mothers working collectively face closure, brothel-keeping charges, imprisonment and separation from their children; or when women driven out of premises risk rape or murder on the street?While […]
(Minister of State, Alan Campbell, Hansard 19 January 2009) In April 2009, a woman (Ms W) was charged under section 33 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 (SOA 1956) with “assisting in the management of a brothel” at two premises. Ms W had no responsibility for either flat. She was not a tenant, did not […]
As parliament makes it an offence to buy sex from women forced into prostitution, Gwladys Fouché talks to sex workers, police and support groups in Scandinavia, where similar bans have met with a mixed receptionNadia shivers in the cold night air while waiting for punters on the streets of Oslo. Until recently, the centre of […]
