Event: Parliamentary launch – Proceed Without Caution, 5 June
Parliamentary launch of PROCEED WITHOUT CAUTION: The Impact of “Prostitute’s Cautions” and Convictions on Sex Workers’ Lives.
Organised by the English Collective of Prostitutes
Hosted by Nadia Whittome MP
Wednesday 5th June 2024. 18:00-20:00
House of Commons (Committee room 10), London SW1A 0AA
Thousands of women in the UK have been cautioned and/or convicted for prostitution offences. Having a criminal record for prostitution brands sex workers as criminals with lifelong consequences. In this report, 12 sex workers speak candidly about the impact of this on their lives.
Plus launch of dossier: NO BAD MUMS: Sex Working Mothers Speak Out!
Most sex workers are mothers working to support families, yet this fact is only beginning to be acknowledged. Austerity cuts have fallen disproportionally on single mothers, but those who turn to sex work to survive and feed their families are disparaged, judged and criminalised. Worse still their children may be taken from them by social services.
Programme includes first-hand accounts from women interviewed for these reports and:
- Chiara Capraro, Amnesty International, decriminalisation of sex work as a human rights issue
- Emmanuelle Andrews, racial justice/human rights campaigner
- Kerry O’Brien, criminalisation of sex workers in Ireland
- Layla Omar, Women Against Rape, safety of sex workers and opposing Islamophobia
- Raven Bowen, National Ugly Mugs, racial justice project
- Sam Hanks, Swansea University, what Freedom of Information responses tell us about “prostitute’s cautions” and Safety First Wales