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 […]
Women groomed into prostitution as teenagers launch High Court legal fight over criminal records ‘Why should I continue to be judged and stigmatised so many years after I got away from the hellish life I entered as a teenager?’ asks woman involved in case Maya Oppenheim Women’s Correspondent @mayaoppenheim Women who were coerced into prostitution as […]
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 […]
SWARM and ECP congratulate the three women who last week won in court the right not to reveal their criminal convictions for prostitution to prospective employers.The women have multiple convictions for soliciting or loitering under the Street Offences Act, and their records will be amended to filter out these convictions. The women in this landmark […]
We send our support to the women today challenging the law that requires people to disclose criminal convictions for prostitution.Hundreds of women a year are criminalised under the prostitution laws.[1] Women of colour, migrant and trans women are most likely to be targeted. To decriminalise sex workers as this action demands would be in line […]
I work on the streets part-time so it isn’t feasible for me to have a flat on my own, but if I could work with a friend from a flat I would do that because it would be safer. I wouldn’t be having to look over my shoulder for the police all the time. Because […]
by Frankie Mullin in Vice According to a new study, seven in ten UK sex workers previously worked in care jobs. The research, carried out by Leeds University, revealed that 71 percent of those surveyed had left health, social care, education, childcare or charity roles to take up sex work. Financial hardship was the usual reason for […]