Women groomed into prostitution as teenagers launch High Court legal fight over criminal records ‘Why should I continue to be judged and stigmatised so many years after I got away from the hellish life I entered as a teenager?’ asks woman involved in case Maya Oppenheim Women’s Correspondent @mayaoppenheim Women who were coerced into prostitution as […]
Diana Johnson’s Sexual Exploitation Bill comes back to parliament on 5 February. Its main provisions aim to “criminalise paying for sex” and target online sites where sex workers advertise. Criminalisation of clients undermines sex workers safety. The Bill includes provisions to decriminalise sex workers and provide services. We comment below on why these two measures, […]
In December 2020, Diana Johnson MP introduced a Ten-Minute Rule motion which aimed to criminalise the purchase of sex and target online sites where sex workers advertise. With members of its Safety First Coalition, including trade unionists, women’s and human rights organisations, the ECP briefed MPs against the motion. thousands of people wrote to their MP with […]
Exclusive: ‘Cruel austerity measures are pushing us into prostitution and trapping us in it,’ says campaignerMaya Oppenheim Women’s Correspondent @mayaoppenheimIncreasing numbers of women are turning to sex work for the first time as the pandemic pushes them into “desperate poverty”, campaigners warned.Leading organisations which support sex workers said there has been a substantial rise in women doing sex work […]
In July 2018, the UK Government published its consultation on reform of the GRA in England and Wales. The ECP’s submission supported calls for reform that included the removal of the requirement for a medical diagnosis for achieving legal recognition as well as recognition of non-binary people and those under the age of 18. Read […]
Image: English Collective of ProstitutesAusterity cuts, the introduction of the harsh Universal Credit scheme and the Hostile Environment has driven more people to sex work to meet their basic needs. Despite this, sex work remains a criminalised profession that is not recognised as legitimate work. The pandemic further exposes the injustice caused to sex workers […]
The hostile environment and exploitative capitalism fuels state violence against migrant sex workers, writes Rachel Trafford. “Police don’t ask us about trafficking – it is only about arrests.” Maria, a sex worker in the UK originally from Eastern Europe, knows the damage the current attitude of the state does for women working in the sex […]
By Rachel Trafford, Immigration Advice Service content writer Today is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Credit: SWARM Paying for sex could become a criminal offence in England and Wales if Parliament approves a new Bill which claims to protect women from sexual exploitation. But criminalisation will only further harm people who are already marginalised, argues Rachel […]
Dear Friends, On Wednesday 9 December, Dame Diana Johnson MP, introduced a Ten-Minute Rule motion to Parliament which aims to criminalise the purchase of sex. The legislation, known as the Nordic model, which is coming back to Parliament for its second reading on the 29 January, also seeks to criminalise online sites which sex workers use to advertise their work. Johnson is […]
Diana Johnson’s bill aims to reduce demand for sex work by making its purchase illegal. Instead, the law could put women in danger and drive them into poverty Lauren Crosby Medlicott @laurenmedlicott Last Wednesday, Dame Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Kingston Upon Hull North, tabled a motion in the House of Commons to criminalise the purchase of […]