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.
As part of a series of actions to mark the 50th anniversary of International Sex Workers’ Day/International Whores Day, we are organising a protest and photo op at Downing Street to hand in our Open Letter to the Home Secretary demanding the abolition of “prostitute’s cautions”. WHEN: Monday 2 June 2025, 11am-12pm WHERE: Downing Street, […]
Further criminalisation of sex work could be more dangerous for both sex workers and survivors of sexual exploitation, activists and charities have warnedLauren Crosby Medlicott Emma had just turned 18 and thought having sheets on the window was ‘normal’ in a first flat. But she started questioning her situation when her boyfriend dumped her in London […]
Over half of UK adults believe sex workers should be able to work in safe conditions, free from criminalisation — according to new data shared exclusively with Cosmopolitan UK By Brit Dawson Mina Karenina, Hookers Against Hardship Thanks to the rise of internet porn and, more recently, OnlyFans, conversations about sex work are now more […]
Campaigners are urging the council to end the criminalisation of prostitution laws.The English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) has gathered more than 1,300 signatures from local residents demanding that Brighton and Hove City Council does “everything in its power to protect sex workers in the city and use whatever influence it has to push for decriminalisation of […]
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 […]
Dear friends,We are excited to announce that we have passed the 1,250 signature mark on our petition demanding that Brighton and Hove City Council decriminalise sex work and prioritise safety! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who supported us! This means that the petition will be presented and debated at the next Full Council meeting on December 19th […]
Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia Sex workers in the UK speak out after Belgium grants people in the industry employment rights in historic first 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 […]
Novara Media · Novara FM: Protect or Punish? The Stakes of Sex Worker Activism w/ Laura Watson Imagine a person arrested for keeping a brothel. Who are they? An abusive pimp? Such people exist, no doubt, but the law isn’t set up just to catch abusers: it also targets sex workers working together to […]
A Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is backing a group fighting for sex work convictions to be exempt from security checks. Cleveland’s Labour PCC Matt Storey has come out in support of the English Collective of Prostitutes’ (ECP) Proceed without Caution campaign which highlights the consequences of sex workers receiving criminal convictions. The charity says […]
Decriminalise prostitution Sonia 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 […]