by WILLIAM McLENNAN SEX workers will be forced on to the street if a “draconian” ruling that shut down their flat is not reversed, a court heard.Two sex workers are taking the Metropolitan Police Service to court to appeal a closure order that was granted against a “walk-up flat” in Lisle Street.Police were granted the order, […]
Three men recently attacked my date and I in London’s gay village Soho. They threw coins and shouted “faggot”. I think gentrification partly prompted their resentment. Recently, I was on a date. It was dinner with this guy I’d met at a party, and afterwards we strolled to the train station, stopping every couple […]
*Paragraph that was edited out included in bold. Criminalising prostitution puts women at great riskRacism and xenophobia are also a problem for sex workers The article “Mariana Popa was killed working as a prostitute. Are the police to blame?”, News) is a turning point in getting senior officers such as Chris Armitt to admit that […]
The prostitutes of London’s red-light district are being evicted. Here, Rupert Everett argues, with wit and vehemence, that closing down the brothels has nothing to do with protecting women The other night I watched Stephen Ward at the Aldwych Theatre, a morality musical about the destruction of an innocent man by the combined forces of Her Majesty’s […]
A TOP detective has denied any connection between police raids on brothels and plans to redevelop Soho – instead claiming the operation was inspired by American crime drama The Wire.Detective Superintendent Kevin Southworth was forced to defend the recent raids – which involved more than 40 premises in Soho – during a fiery debate in […]
ICRSE CoordinatorFollowing a series of article in the UK newspaper The Guardian, ICRSE and many sex workers organisations, academics and allies have signed a letter demanding a fairer representation to the debate on criminalisation of clients.To this date, the letter (or its shorter version) have not been published and The Guardian has not contacted ICRSE.Dear […]
Rupert Everett: ‘The whole of this town is slipping through our fingers’HOLLYWOOD actor Rupert Everett joined a group of sex workers in court this week as they protested against the closure of scores of legal brothels in Soho.Earlier this month 200 police swooped on dozens of businesses in Soho in an attempt to clamp down […]
BULLDOZERS are set to roll into a historic Soho street after a massive redevelopment was given the green light, despite a string of objections claiming it would “sanitise” the area.Soho Estates was given permission to demolish parts of Walkers Court, Peter Street and Brewer Street to create new nightclubs, offices and a restaurant. The narrow […]
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Paula Nicol from the English Collective of Prostitutes, which campaigns for the abolition of the prostitution laws which criminalise sex workers and their families, and for economic alternatives and higher benefits and wages.I have worked as a sex worker in at least ten different flats in Soho […]
MORE than 200 police officers clad in riot-gear swooped on dozens of businesses in Soho on Wednesday in an attempt to stifle the trade of stolen goods.Scotland Yard said they targeted brothels, clubs, sex shops and a taxi company after gathering evidence from 18 months of undercover operations.They said they had compiled evidence linking some […]