SUPPORT Motion 39 Decriminalisation of sex workReceived from ASLEF supported by GMBCongress notes that austerity measures since 2010 have led to an increase in the number of people working in the sex industry and is concerned by examples such as Doncaster, where on-street prostitution has risen by 60 per cent, an increase primarily attributed to the […]
By John Owen, BBC Victoria Derbyshire programmeSex workers say they are being left more vulnerable to attack by laws making it illegal for them to share premises for safety, and that they feel unable to report abuse. Two such women have spoken to the Victoria Derbyshire programme.”I understand I am a sex worker for a […]
Joint Statement by SWARM, English Collective of Prostitutes and National Ugly MugsLess than two months ago, thousands of sex workers and concerned members of the public raised their alarm over the arrest and deportation of three Romanian sex workers in Swindon. This week, West Midlands Police raided a premises in Smethwick, shutting down the workplace […]
By Alex RossA legal ‘prostitution zone’ should be introduced in a bid to tackle sex slavery in the West Midlands, an expert has said.The slavery investigator, whose identity cannot be revealed, says it would help ensure the safety of women, while reducing the amount of ‘pop-up brothels’.The idea has also been backed by the English […]
Megan WallaceSurely, we should be entering an age where sex has been demystified and ideas about its supposed sanctity safely abandoned. However, when we consider the social perception of sex workers, it is clear that this is not yet the case.Across the globe, assumptions that sex work is immoral are still rife, with sex workers […]
Campaigners warn threats from police and Home Office against sex workers who report crimes make women reluctant to report violence committed against them May Bulman The Brazilian woman, who was in the UK on a six-month visa, approached the police after she was robbed at knifepoint along with other sex workers by a group of […]
By Natalie Bloomer “Campaigners for sex workers’ rights say that by focusing on the prosecution and deportation of the worker rather than the attack against her, police were discouraging other women from coming to them for help” Sex workers have warned that they are unable to go to the police for help, after a victim […]
Owen Bowcott Legal affairs correspondent Labour frontbencher Keir Starmer concerned about priorities of Met police after spate of robberies of premises used for sex work in London Scotland Yard has been accused of threatening to prosecute women who work in brothels rather than pursue an armed gang of robbers who have been repeatedly targeting premises […]
Frankie Mullin The prosecution of Christy Norman, a minimum-wage brothel cleaner who attempted to save a man’s life, has left Britain’s sex workers reeling Last week, a 70-year-old woman was convicted of managing a brothel in Bournemouth, despite maintaining that she was simply the £6-an-hour cleaner. Christy Norman called 999 after a man walked […]
NB Statement on Buzzfeed news article:The ECP does not agree with Christy Norman’s call for the premises she was working at to be closed. We understand that it was very upsetting to Ms Norman that others working at the premises left her to face the police alone. It also appears that one of the women […]