Decriminalisation increases sex workers’ safety and well-being. New Zealand decriminalised sex work in 2003 with verifiable success. Over 90% of sex workers said they had additional employment, legal, health and safety rights. One important measure of this is that prior to decriminalisation 47% of brothel workers had refused to see a client in the previous 12 months, after decriminalisation 68% of brothel workers had done this. 70% said they were more likely to report incidents of violence to the police.
For more information see our briefing Why Decriminalisation? and report Decriminalisation of Prostitution: the Evidence.
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 […]
If you’re a Brighton and Hove resident, please sign and share this petition below calling on Brighton and Hove City Council to take all possible action to prioritise the safety of sex workers in the city, and to use whatever influence it has to push for decriminalisation nationally. We need a minimum of 1,250 signatures […]
Exclusive: ‘Criminalisation and gender stereotypes are the main drivers of stigma against sex workers,’ says Amnesty International Gender Justice DirectorMaya Oppenheim Women’s Correspondent More women think sex work should be stigmatised than men, according to new YouGov polling, while most Britons say they would not be friends with someone who appears in pornography.Research shared exclusively with The Independent found around one […]
On the 20th anniversary of the Prostitution Reform Act, which decriminalised sex work in Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ), two key members of the ANZ Sex Workers’ Collective (ANZPC) are speaking in London. Dame Catherine Healy, founding member and national coordinator Annah Pickering, Auckland Regional manager Monday 6 November, 12.30-2pm Crossroads Women’s Centre, 25 Wolsey Mews, London, NW5 […]
Exclusive: Campaigner says changing law ‘could be the difference between life and death for women’Maya Oppenheim Women’s Correspondent The government must review prostitution laws to ensure sex workers can work together on the same premises to remain safe, a senior police officer has said.Dan Vajzovic, the National Police Chief Council’s lead for prostitution and sex work, told The Independent he is working alongside government officials to reassess brothel keeping legislation.Politicians […]
In the cost of living crisis, women are not being pushed into prostitution by abusers, traffickers or pimps, but by the wilful neglect of the state. The time to act is now Nadia Whittome, Lydia Caradonna As food banks fail to keep up with demand, and families cannot afford to put money on the […]
Activists have been fighting for sex work to be decriminalised for decades, but what would that actually look like? Writer Brit Dawson investigatesThis article is part of our Future of Sex season – a series of features investigating the future of sex, relationships, dating, sex work and sex worker rights; tech; taboos; and the next socio-political sexual frontiers.When I ask London-based sex worker Rosa to […]
Media Storm presented by Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia.Warning: Some strong language and references to sexOnline or offline, the stigma that comes with being a sex worker is pervasive. But sex work is not just stigmatised – it’s criminalised. Laws that ban certain aspects of sex work force workers into unsafe, unregulated environments, where they […]
Sex work is a profession that is consistently under threat—workers are judged, shamed, harassed and criminalised. However, sex workers have had a particularly rough time of it during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike others who were able to continue to work remotely or granted furlough when the former was not a possibility, sex workers received no governmental support. […]