‘Convictions for sex work further limit people’s ability to exit the industry and find alternative means of employment,’ says sex worker Maya Oppenheim Women’s Correspondent @mayaoppenheim The jailing of two migrant sex workers in Ireland has been condemned by others in the industry as “horrible” and “completely unjust”. Adrina Podaru, 25, and Ana Tomascu, 20, were living in Newbridge, Kildare, […]
Lobbyists say making payment for sex illegal targets punters. But in fact it makes workers’ bodies into crime scenes @frankiemullin Paying for sex has been illegal in Ireland for two years. At the time of the law’s introduction, proponents insisted that the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017, a version of “end demand” or “Nordic […]
Raids – or “welfare visits” – carried out by police are supposedly conducted for safety, but they’re harming sex workers and failing to identify genuine victims. Anti-trafficking raids are often framed as vital rescue missions undertaken to save victims of modern slavery. However, according to Niki Adams – an English Collective of Prostitutes [ECP] spokesperson […]
Listen here. After 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 […]
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 […]
Laws which target sex workers are supposedly set up to protect women. But really, they put vulnerable women in more danger.By Stella Winter and Liliana Gashi from English Collective of ProstitutesA rally for sex worker rights during the Women’s Strike, 8th March 2018. Photo by Juno Mac.After the introduction of SESTA-FOSTA in the US set the precedent for policing online sex work, […]
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 […]