PRI’s The WorldAfter the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in 2016, large industries have struggled to handle the ramifications of the upcoming Brexit. One affected industry that does not get much coverage is prostitution.Laura Watson is the spokesperson for the English Collective of Prostitutes in London. She spoke with The World’s Carol Hills […]
Exclusive: ‘For migrant workers, everything is compounded – the sexism, the criminalisation and the racism and then the hostile immigration environment’Maya Oppenheim Women’s Correspondent @mayaoppenheimSex workers in the UK are being illegally targeted for deportations and subjected to harassment and attacks because of a Brexit-inspired culture of discrimination against foreigners, campaigners have claimed.A dossier compiled by the campaign group English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) […]
A sex worker collective has compiled a dossier of cases that it has fought over the last few years showing how Brexit is affecting migrant sex workers from the EU. The English Collective of Prostitutes’ dossier, Sex workers are getting screwed by Brexit, includes examples of women being targeted by police for arrest and deportation despite […]
UPDATE: Thanks to all who responded. We found a lawyer who is applying for legal aid. We want to challenge Home Office who say they are “protecting the public and combating the effects of persistent offending” by deporting her.We are the English Collective of Prostitutes, a network of sex workers working both on the streets and […]
See open letter here: Demand police prioritise the protection of sex workers over the prosecution for prostitution offences.BACKGROUND INFORMATION On 24 June, Maria Benito [not her real name] called the police after being robbed at knifepoint by five men while working with other women in a flat in Enfield.When officers attended the incident, Ms Benito […]
We write to protest the police treatment of a victim of armed robbery who was working as a sex worker when she was attacked. (Crime ref: 5214132/17).Ms Maria Benito [not her real name] was working in a flat in Enfield when five men broke in with knives and robbed her and other women. As soon […]
Joint Statement by SWARM, English Collective of Prostitutes and National Ugly MugsLess than two months ago, thousands of sex workers and concerned members of the public raised their alarm over the arrest and deportation of three Romanian sex workers in Swindon. This week, West Midlands Police raided a premises in Smethwick, shutting down the workplace […]
Campaigners warn threats from police and Home Office against sex workers who report crimes make women reluctant to report violence committed against themMay BulmanThe Brazilian woman, who was in the UK on a six-month visa, approached the police after she was robbed at knifepoint along with other sex workers by a group of men on […]
By Natalie Bloomer “Campaigners for sex workers’ rights say that by focusing on the prosecution and deportation of the worker rather than the attack against her, police were discouraging other women from coming to them for help”Updated below.Sex workers have warned that they are unable to go to the police for help, after a victim of […]
Owen Bowcott Legal affairs correspondentLabour frontbencher Keir Starmer concerned about priorities of Met police after spate of robberies of premises used for sex work in LondonScotland Yard has been accused of threatening to prosecute women who work in brothels rather than pursue an armed gang of robbers who have been repeatedly targeting premises used for […]