In 2003, New Zealand decriminalized prostitution stating that “while not endorsing or morally sanctioning prostitution or its use” it aimed “to create a framework that: (a) safeguards the human rights of sex workers and protects them from exploitation; (b) promotes the welfare and occupational health and safety of sex workers; (c) is conducive to public health; (d) prohibits the […]
In January 2010, a Thai woman was charged with trafficking and brothel-keeping. She worked in a flat with other women where she organised the advertising and paid the rent. She and her husband had given a lift in their car to a sex worker they had known for years, from one town to another in […]
Government accused of driving women on to the streets by cracking down on high-class escort agencies, reports Robert VerkaikTheirs is a world away from grubby net curtains and phone box calling cards. They offer dinner dates, online credit card bookings, intelligent conversation and companionship – and perhaps an illicit rendezvous in a stylish apartment for […]
“Criminalising young people in the sex industry will not help them escape prostitution. We need to give these young people opportunities to change their lives not give them a criminal record.” says Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Dormer Lib Dem peer, Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Dormer will today push the Government to prevent the further criminalisation […]
In August 2009, a woman who was working on her own from home in Tyne and Wear was charged with the archaic offences of “running a disorderly house” and “running a bawdy house under common law”. She believed she was targeted by police because she had previously reported a serious racist attack by a neighbour […]
Dear Friends and supporters, We are writing first of all to say how very much we appreciate all the work people did against the prostitution clauses in the Policing & Crime Bill (PCB), and to give you a brief update. Unfortunately, the PCB went through Parliament on 12 November. There was one key victory: the […]
13. Sex WorkThe criminalisation of those who work in the sex industry helps to divide the working class. It separates illegal workers from legal workers and drives people into clandestine situations where they face dangerous and exploitative conditions.Moral panic over trafficking has created a smokescreen behind which the state hasintensified its policing of all migrant […]
Siobhain ButterworthReaders EditorThe Guardian10 November 2009 Dear Siobhain Butterworth We wish to submit a complaint about misinformation reported in the Guardian following Nick Davies’s excellent investigation on figures of women trafficked into the sex industry. 1. Denis MacShane MP claims that the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) “grew out of the Wages for Housework campaign started by […]
SEX WORKERS NEED SAFETY AND RIGHTS, NOT CRIMINALISATIONDemonstration Against the Policing and Crime Bill12-2pm, Tuesday 3 November, Parliament SquareBring placards and red umbrellas and join the demonstration to demand:an end to the criminalisation of sex worksafety and other rights for all workers in the sex industry, including the right to unionisethe right to stay and not […]
A opinion poll released today shows that three in five people would support a change in the law. It is currently legal for a person to work as a prostitute in the UK provided that they work from premises and that they work alone. It has been suggested on the grounds of safety and security […]