Press Release: Sex workers speak out in Parliament
Sex Workers Response, Stop the Criminalisation of Sex Work – Safety First!
Sex workers from a number of European countries including Sweden will be speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday 26 March 2014.
Where: Committee Room 12
When: Wednesday 26 March, 6.30-8.30pm
Hosted by: John McDonnell MP
Organised by: English Collective of Prostitutes and the People’s Parliament
An All-Party Parliamentary Group recently recommended changing the prostitution laws to criminalise clients. They are doing this without even releasing any analysis of the evidence. We don’t even know how many of the respondents supported this recommendation. Claims that sex workers will be decriminalised aren’t true. ASBOs would continue to be used against any woman who didn’t “rehabilitate”; they have already massively increased women’s imprisonment.
Similar proposals have been put forward in various European countries. The meeting will hear about the impact on sex workers’ safety of increased criminalisation and the creative and determined campaigns by sex workers and supporters against these measures.
International speakers:
Carina Edlund, Rose Alliance, Sweden, will speak about the increased stigma and discrimination resulting from the 1999 Swedish law which criminalised clients.
“Before even thinking of a law that criminalises men who buy sex, UK politicians should hear from Swedish sex workers like myself about how we have treated under the law. We are still criminalised if we work together in apartments, we risk losing our home if we sell sex there even if we own it, social workers treat as like children and we can even lose custody of our kids because we are seen as victims suffering from a form of self-harm who can’t take care of ourselves. This law should be taken away not exported to other countries.”
Ariane G, Germany – problems of working within a state-run legalised system.
Aisling Gallagher, Women’s Officer NUS-USI — the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Bill and its anti-gay proponents.
Morgane Merteuil, STRASS, France – spearheading opposition to a law criminalising clients which has just been approved by the National Assembly.
Jenny O, Sex Workers Alliance of Ireland – staving off proposals to criminalise clients from groups with a history of running Magdalene laundries and imprisoning “fallen women”.
Molly Smith, Scotpep, Scotland – defeating the proposed: “Criminalisation of the Purchase of Sex (Scotland) Bill”.
Luca Stevenson, International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe – Europe wide opposition to MEP Mary Honeyball’s EU motion to criminalise clients.
ALSO
Lori Bora, Soho Working Girls — the impact of mass raids and closures
Prof. Colin Francome — polling the public on the criminalisation of clients
Jean Johnson, Hampshire Women’s Institute – support for decriminalisation among women’s organisations.
Nicola Mann, Women Against Rape — what is needed to improve sex workers’ safety.
Nandi Lothar, All African Women’s Group — prostitution arising from government enforced destitution.
Vera Rodriguez, dancer, x:talk— the impact of re-defining lap-dancing clubs as sex entertainment venues.
Didi Rossi, Queer Strike – lgbtq support for decriminalisation of consenting sex.
Robert Jappie, Release — effects of criminalisation on drug users.
Paula Yanev, English Collective of Prostitutes — knowing our rights.
Clayton Littlewood, author – Soho support for its sex worker residents.
Toni Mac — Sex Worker Open University
Dr. Nic Mai – migrant sex workers and trafficking
Nigel Richardson, Hodge, Jones & Allen – sex workers’ legal defence
Cari Mitchell from the English Collective of Prostitutes, which is organising the meeting with the People’s Parliament commented:
“The existing prostitution laws force sex workers to work in isolation and danger, so change is urgently needed. But criminalising clients will be a disaster for sex workers undermining safety and increasing stigma.
We are appalled that at a time when benefit cuts and sanctions, lowering wages, increased homelessness, and debt are forcing more women, particularly mothers, into prostitution, the best that MPs can come up with is to increase criminalisation. These proposals will further divert police time and resources from investigating rape, trafficking and other violent crimes to policing consenting sex.
Why did the APPG ignore New Zealand which decriminalised in 2003 with verifiable improvements in sex workers safety? [1] Canada’s Supreme Court threw out the prostitution laws for violating women’s right to safety. [2] This wasn’t even mentioned by the APPG.”
The English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) is a network of women who work or have worked in different areas of the sex industry campaigning for decriminalisation and safety. The ECP provides daily support to sex workers on a range of issues including fighting legal cases which challenge discrimination and establish prostitute women’s right to protection against violence.
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Organised by: English Collective of Prostitutes ecp@prostitutescollective.net / Tel: 020 7482 2496