The Suffolk Murders of 2006 have yet again highlighted the problem of how to deal with ‘the oldest profession’. The government’s Criminal Justice & Immigration Bill is again reviewing the law on prostitution, but some say it doesn’t go far enough.The Criminal Justice & Immigration Bill is passing through the Houses of Parliament and it […]
At the Million Women Rise march against violence on Saturday 8 March, a woman who was going to speak about sex workers’ safety was dropped from the platform at the last minute.Teresa MacKay from Ipswich Trades Council had been invited to address the rally in Trafalgar Square and had submitted in advance her speech about […]
Government feminists and Christian fundamentalists have joined forces claiming that prostitution is violence. They rightly say that attacks against prostitute women are common and that it’s only when five are murdered in one place that it starts to provoke debate.They want to criminalise men who buy sex, as Sweden has done. But prosecuting clients is […]
The tragic murders of five young women in Ipswich in December last year led to an unprecedented outpouring of public concern and showed that the government, police and media are way behind where the public is at.The media was caught off guard. One Guardian journalist told us recently that she arrived in Ipswich with other […]
Joan Smith acknowledges that “women are driven into prostitution by poverty”, but doesn’t address benefit cuts, low wages, debt, lack of affordable housing, and addiction to expensive drugs. Instead, she targets clients (“Prostitutes are victims not criminals”, 13 April).She claims that police can’t deal with sex workers being beaten or raped because they are “constrained […]
WOMEN’S safety campaigners warned on Thursday that Ipswich local authorities’ plans for a “zero-tolerance” policy on street prostitution will compromise prostitutes’ safety. The Safety First coalition, which is co-ordinated by the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), warned that the proposals replicated almost exactly those in place before the horrific murder of five street prostitutes in […]
Contact: Cari Mitchell020 7482 2496 07811 964 171 Policies which contributed to the tragic murders of five young women in Ipswich are being reintroducedThe Safety First coalition is appalled at proposals of zero tolerance against clients and removal of street prostitution announced yesterday by Ipswich Local Authorities, police, health and probation services. The proposals […]
A conference looking at ways to protect prostitutes is to be addressed by a vicar from Ipswich, scene of last year’s serial prostitute killings. The Rape, Race and Prostitution Conference, in London, will examine how women could be better protected by changes to the justice system. It will also consider women who are the victims […]
Gemma Adams and a woman the police believe to be Tania Nicol, have now both been found tragically murdered in Ipswich. We pass our deepest condolences to their loved ones. A number of women also working as sex workers have gone missing in the area in recent years. In order to save lives and not […]
A sex workers’ support group has called for an amnesty for prostitutes and clients after three women were found dead and two reported missing.The naked bodies of Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol and a third woman were found near Ipswich over the past eight days.Police are also looking for prostitutes Annette Nicholls and Paula Clennell.The English […]