A woman in the ECP network just won against charges of brothel-keeping. Ms J is a mother and sex worker in Scotland. She worked hard to establish a discreet dungeon space which acted as a safe and secure working environment for sex workers. Her property was aggressively raided by twenty police officers with a battering […]
In December 2022 Newham Council issued a consultation on its proposal to bring in a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in the Romford Road.The justification for the PSPO was that sex workers were:“. . . offering sexual services to passersby, engaging in sexual activities in public spaces” and that clients were kerb-crawling and that this […]
In advance of planned protests by Extinction Rebellion this week, Netpol is calling on the Metropolitan Police to prevent a repeat of the systemic discrimination towards disabled protesters that we documented in our report “Restricting the Rebellion” in 2019The European Convention on Human Rights, in Article 14, says the exercise of rights including freedom of […]
We support the application to the European Court of Human Rights (EHRC) to decriminalise loitering and soliciting and expunge criminal records. It is much needed and we hope it is successful.However, the campaign which initiated this legal action specifically states that it does not support the decriminalisation of sex work. This is divisive and flies […]
We heard the news of the Yorkshire Ripper dying and our first thoughts were with the families, with the survivors. Probably, they must be feeling relief that they don’t have to face any chance of Sutcliffe getting out of prison, as there was some talk of that not long ago.The ECP was very involved at […]
At the time of a pandemic when poverty, particularly among women and children has increased so massively, why is Diana Johnson and other women MPs focusing on proposals that will make women poorer. They urge the government to criminalise sex workers’ clients and crack down on online advertising sites without any consideration to the ways […]
Seattle City Council votes to repeal drug and prostitution loitering laws which have a “deep and harmful racist history” and are shown to have “a disproportionate impact on women of color, both cis- and transgender”.Today Seattle City Council repealed drug and prostitution loitering laws that endangered SW safety, unjustly targeted non-violent peoples, and disproportionately impacted […]
The coronavirus has thrown millions of people into crisis. For sex workers, forced by criminalisation, stigma and discrimination to live in the shadows, that crisis is more hidden. Much sex work involves personal contact – exactly what we are being warned against if the virus is to be contained. The virus comes on top of […]
We send our best wishes and support to the three women who tomorrow, 21 January 2019, are bringing a legal case to the High Court challenging street prostitution legislation. The English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) is a network of sex workers working both on the streets and indoors campaigning for decriminalisation and safety. We fight […]