Decriminalisation
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.
Has the rate of sexual assault really increased in New Zealand since 2003?
By Joel Hellewell This post is a response to the “meme” created by Nordic Model Now, claiming that the rate of sexual assault in New Zealand has increased since 2003, primarily because of the decriminalisation of prostitution in the Prostitution Reform Act 2003. Link to the meme: https://nordicmodelnow.org/2016/08/11/meme-about-new-zealand-since-the-full-decriminalisation-of-the-sex-trade/ The first thing to do to the […]
I News: As sex workers, we deserve the same working rights as everyone else
By The English Collective of ProstitutesA motion will be put to the vote at the TUC Congress today, proposed by ASLEF the train drivers’ union and supported by the GMB, calling for “decriminalisation of sex work” and demanding the same rights for sex workers as other workers.The motion recognises sex workers as workers who should […]
Independent: Trade union leaders to vote on decriminalising prostitution at TUC conference
Calls made for a ‘New Zealand-style’ approach which offers sex workers legal protection but concerns remain over ‘exploitation’Lizzy Buchan and Harriet Agerholm Political CorrespondentUnion leaders will vote on whether to back efforts to decriminalise prostitution to offer greater protection to sex workers.Calls have been made for a ‘New Zealand-style’ approach where sex workers are offered full legal protection amid […]
TUC Congress 2017: SUPPORT Motion 39 Decriminalisation of sex work
SUPPORT Motion 39 Decriminalisation of sex workReceived from ASLEF supported by GMBCongress notes that austerity measures since 2010 have led to an increase in the number of people working in the sex industry and is concerned by examples such as Doncaster, where on-street prostitution has risen by 60 per cent, an increase primarily attributed to the […]
Screenshot Magazine: How unions could protect our sex workers
Megan WallaceSurely, we should be entering an age where sex has been demystified and ideas about its supposed sanctity safely abandoned. However, when we consider the social perception of sex workers, it is clear that this is not yet the case.Across the globe, assumptions that sex work is immoral are still rife, with sex workers […]
Podcast: Very Loose Women – sex workers’ rights and safety
Emma Grinfeld and Leonore Schick discuss young women’s issues. This week VLW are joined by members of the English Collective of Prostitutes who campaign for the decriminalisation of prostitution as well as for sex workers’ rights and safety. We’ll be talking about the real effects that the current laws in the UK have on sex […]
In Full Sight: ‘The pimp lobby’ at the Amnesty AGM
The ‘pimp lobby’ slur thrown at those who argue for full decriminalization discredits the sex work labour movement. Frankie Mullin reports on the Amnesty UK Annual General Meeting. Frankie Mullin is a freelance journalist covering social issues with a special interest in the politics of sex work. “The English Collection of Pimps.” That was the slur […]
Statement: In loving memory, Jean Johnson, Hampshire WI
It was with shock and sadness that we heard of the death of our wonderful friend and colleague, Jean Johnson, Chair of Hampshire Women’s Institute. Jean died suddenly on 4 October and her funeral is today. Her passing is a terrible loss not only for her family and friends but for sex workers and single […]
The Mail: 100 per cent of our readers think prostitution should be decriminalised?
PROSTITUTION laws should be urgently rewritten so sex workers are no longer criminalised for soliciting, a major new Commons report has argued. Evening Mail readers voted overwhelmingly in favour of it being decriminalisation. Brothel-keeping rules should also be adapted so prostitutes can share premises rather than placing themselves at risk by working alone, the Government […]