Press Release: Sex workers urge Brighton and Hove City Council to support their demands to end the criminalisation of sex work
PRESS RELEASE . . . PRESS RELEASE . . . PRESS RELEASE . . .
Sex workers urge Brighton and Hove City Council to support their demands to end the criminalisation of sex work and provide resources to help people leave sex work if they choose.
A petition to Brighton and Hove City Council issued by the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) has gathered over 1,300 signatures from local residents demanding that the Council do everything in its power to protect sex workers in the city and use whatever influence it has to push for decriminalisation of sex work nationally: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/decriminalise-sex-work-and-prioritise-safety/
The petition will be presented and discussed at the next full council meeting at Hove Town Hall on Thursday 19th December from 4.30pm.
The meeting comes just two days after the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (17 December). Members of the ECP and its supporters will gather outside the Town Hall from 3:30pm to remember those that have been lost to violence, and to demand an end to poverty and criminalisation which puts sex workers in danger.
Contact:
020 7482 2496 / ecp@prostitutescollective.net / Instagram: ecp_org / X: @ProstitutesColl
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More information
Prostitution in the UK is increasing because poverty is increasing due to deliberate government policies of austerity cuts and the cost-of-living increase. Most sex workers are mothers working to support families.
UK law makes it illegal for sex workers to work together. This forces sex workers to make a choice: to keep themselves safe and face the possibility of arrest, or avoid a criminal record and put themselves in danger.
Criminalisation of sex work undermines safety by forcing sex workers to work in isolation and deterring them from reporting violence and exploitation for fear of arrest.
Migrant women, disabled women, trans women and women of colour disproportionately experience violence and are overly criminalised.
Prostitution could be reduced by providing viable economic alternatives and affordable housing, free childcare, living wage benefits, a universal guaranteed income, and pay equity.
New Zealand has successfully decriminalised prostitution with verifiable improvements in sex workers’ safety, health and well-being. In Belgium, under decriminalisation, sex workers have won labour rights, including pensions, maternity leave and the right to refuse clients — strengthening workers’ hands to fight workplace exploitation
Decriminalisation is supported by prestigious organisations such as the Royal College of Nursing, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Women Against Rape in the UK and internationally, Amnesty International, the World Health Organization, Human Rights Watch, UNAIDS, International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women.
