Criminalisation, of sex workers or clients, undermines safety.
The law criminalising clients, first implemented in Sweden in 1999 and known as the “Nordic Model” is touted as feminist because it criminalises men (i.e. the clients) rather than women (i.e. the victims). But its effect on women has been disastrous. Sex workers face increased stigma, are more at risk of violence, and are less able to call on the protection of the police and the authoritie as this can lead to police harassment, the loss of custody over children, or deportation.
For more information please see our briefing No Nordic Model
Sex workers in the UK speak out after Belgium grants people in the industry employment rights in historic first Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia Under a new law in Belgium – the first of its kind in the world – sex workers have been given employment rights. They will be entitled to official employment […]
Decriminalise prostitutionSonia Sodha is right that “male demand for prostitution is not innate. Governments shape it through legislation” (“Punish the men who pay for sex, rather than the women lured into that life”). But legislation also shapes women’s experiences of offering sex for money.Criminalising the buying of sex doesn’t stop men from buying it. It […]
Niki Adams from the English Collective of Prostitutes tells me why the prostitution laws should be abolished, why the Scandinavian model is bad for sex workers, how mainstream feminist politicians are failing sex workers and what we can all do to offer support and be a good ally.Stream Episode 9 – for prostitutes, against prostitution […]
Sex workers say they see police ‘as a threat rather than a shield’Maya OppenheimWomen’s CorrespondentIreland’s decision to criminalise prostitution is “facilitating” harassment of sex workers and violent attacks against them, a scathing new report has found.Research carried out by Amnesty International warned legislation implemented in 2017 was driving sex workers to put their lives at risk in a desperate bid […]
Prostitution has been a part of our society for centuries, but the women who engage in it are often overlooked.Whilst there are many reasons women become sex workers, the majority are forced into it by poverty, seeing it as last resort to earn money.At the moment in Britain, prostitution itself is not illegal but there […]
Whether to outlaw or decriminalise prostitution remains one of feminism’s most enduring, and divisive, questions. Now, as the UK once again considers calls to adopt the Nordic model, Lauren Crosby Medlicott takes a look at both sides of the debate… As a feminist, what do I think about sex work? The answer to that question […]
In November 2020, the Scottish Government launched a public consultation on “challenging men’s demand for prostitution”. Outrageously, it was presented as part of its “Equally Safe” strategy. The ECP’s response highlights the dangers of criminalisation, including the criminalisation of clients, and sex workers’ demands for decriminalisation, safety and the need for money and other material […]
Three years after the creation of the UK’s first boroughwide no-prostitution zone, Redbridge Council wants residents’ support to keep cracking down.However, while sex workers have “disappeared” from the once-notorious Ilford Lane, outreach groups fear they are just being displaced to more dangerous areas or into pop-up brothels.In 2018, a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) allowing […]
Opinions are split on a ruling that allows carers to find prostitutes for vulnerable people.A judge’s recent ruling that it is lawful for the carers of a 27-year-old man with learning disabilities to facilitate sex between him and a prostitute has aroused controversy.While some lawyers praised Mr Justice Hayden’s judgment, others slammed it as a […]
It is not presently illegal for individuals to buy or sell sex The government must not implement proposals to criminalise sex work through the controversial policing bill, campaign groups have warned. Dame Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull, has called for amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which would criminalise buying sex and the […]