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.
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The evidence is clear that to build resilience to human trafficking in the sex industry, decriminalisation is the most effective approach, so that is what we support Fences are not comfortable places, yet when it comes to sex work anti-trafficking organisations are clambering for a perch. They like it up there because it keeps them […]
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 […]
No bad women The case for the decriminalisation of sex work 3rd May 2021 There are no bad women, just bad laws. The English Collective of Prostitute’s Cari Mitchell argues for the decriminalisation of sex work, and explores the powerful role that outdated laws play in fostering a culture of violence against sex workers. The Speaker Cari […]
By Lauren Crosby Medlicott, Freelance writerWhen Nadia arrived in the UK three days after she’d left her home in Eastern Europe, she thought she was coming to work as a nanny.It was a big move for the 18-year-old, who had made the traumatic decision to leave her baby behind. But for Nadia it was the only […]