PROCEED WITHOUT CAUTION
The Impact of “Prostitute’s Cautions & Convictions on Sex Workers’ Lives
Thousands of women in the UK have received a ‘prostitute’s caution’ – a specific type of caution reserved for the punishment of sex workers – and/or have been convicted for prostitution offences; that is, for loitering or soliciting for working on the street and for brothel keeping or controlling prostitution for working together in premises with others.
Having a prostitute’s caution and/or a criminal record for a prostitution offence brands sex workers as criminals, making us an easy target for the police and others in authority to discriminate and deny us our rights. In practice this means that sex workers are barred from finding other jobs and institutionalised in prostitution, lose custody of our children, are deported or prevented from travelling to other countries, are made more vulnerable to exploitation and violence and are denied compensation and insurance, among other injustices. The risks of a prostitute’s caution, and the impacts of them, are compounded for sex workers who are migrant, trans, women of colour, street workers and working class.
REPORT
The report ‘Proceed Without Caution: The Impact of ‘Prostitute’s Cautions’ and Convictions on Sex Workers’ Lives’ was launched in the House of Commons on 12 November. This community-based research was conducted by sex workers, many of whom have convictions themselves, who interviewed their colleagues and friends on the lifelong and devastating impact of ‘prostitute’s cautions’ and convictions on their lives.
OPEN LETTER
An Open Letter to the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper demanding the abolition of “prostitute’s cautions” and an end to the criminalisation of sex work was issued by ECP and other UK sex worker groups. The letter has been signed by over 80 organisations, including human rights, LGBTQ, feminist and migrants’ rights groups, anti-trafficking organisations, outreach projects and trade unions.
DEMO
As part of a series of actions to mark the 50th anniversary of International Sex Workers’ Day/International Whores Day on 2 June, ECP organised a protest at Downing Street to hand in the Open Letter to the Home Secretary. Photos: Copyright Juno Mac / SWARM
PRESS COVERAGE
The Observer: Call for end to ‘draconian’ police cautions for sex workers that last until age of 100
Police in England and Wales should be banned from issuing a “draconian” caution that exclusively targets sex workers, both politicians and campaigners have said. Read more
The Lead: Labelled forever: the policing tool ruining sex workers’ lives
A ‘prostitute caution’ requires no evidence, merely suspicion – but stays on your record for a 100 years and blocks you from finding other work. Back in the 1980s, Amanda* worked as a sex worker in Blackpool, desperately trying to earn money for herself and her autistic son. Police were a constant menace. Read more
Novara Media: Protect or Punish? The Stakes of Sex Worker Activism
BBC Woman’s Hour
Campaigners are calling for an end to the “Prostitutes Caution”, saying it’s preventing women leaving sex work behind them. Nuala talks to spokesperson for the ECP, Laura Watson, and MP for Nottingham East Nadia Whittombe, who’s backing the campaign for a change in the law.
REPORT LAUNCH
On 12th November, SWARM members attended Proceed Without Caution, an event organised by the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) in the House of Commons. This event was to publicly launch two community reports; Proceed Without Caution, published by ECP, and ‘Exposed from all sides: The Role of Policing in Sex Workers’ Access to Justice, in collaboration with the European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance (ESWA). In a building in which legislation about sex work is debated, below ornate chandeliers, sex workers and allies sat, to make public the impact that criminalisation has on our lives. Read more