Dear friends & supporters, The government has reopened its Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) consultation. Please submit your views and experiences here. Deadline 26 March. In our previous Action Alert we outlined the dangers of prostitution and pornography being listed as a form of violence against women on an equal par with rape, domestic […]
A controversial new proposal could make paying for sex a criminal offence and protect women from violence, but workers, activists and charities argue it will have the opposite effect, writes Rachel HaganPaying for sex could become a criminal offence in England and Wales if parliament approves a new bill which has been put forward by Dame […]
Written submission to the Home Office Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy 2021-2024: call for evidence.English Collective of Prostitutes, February 2021.The ECP is a self-help organisation of sex workers, working both on the street and in premises, with a national network throughout the UK. Since 1975, we have campaigned for the decriminalisation of prostitution, […]
A response to Nordic Model Now – Dame Diana Johnson’s Sexual Exploitation Bill: The DebateThe COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated in real-time the dangerous effects that reducing demand for sex work has on sex workers. Exclusion from government support means many sex workers face a near-impossible choice between continuing to work or attempting to survive on Universal […]
Diana Johnson’s Sexual Exploitation Bill comes back to parliament on 5 February. Its main provisions aim to “criminalise paying for sex” and target online sites where sex workers advertise. Criminalisation of clients undermines sex workers safety. The Bill includes provisions to decriminalise sex workers and provide services. We comment below on why these two measures, […]
The hostile environment and exploitative capitalism fuels state violence against migrant sex workers, writes Rachel Trafford.“Police don’t ask us about trafficking – it is only about arrests.” Maria, a sex worker in the UK originally from Eastern Europe, knows the damage the current attitude of the state does for women working in the sex industry […]
By Rachel Trafford, Immigration Advice Service content writer Today is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Credit: SWARM Paying for sex could become a criminal offence in England and Wales if Parliament approves a new Bill which claims to protect women from sexual exploitation. But criminalisation will only further harm people who are already marginalised, argues Rachel […]
Dear Friends,On Wednesday 9 December, Dame Diana Johnson MP, introduced a Ten-Minute Rule motion to Parliament which aims to criminalise the purchase of sex. The legislation, known as the Nordic model, which is coming back to Parliament for its second reading on the 29 January, also seeks to criminalise online sites which sex workers use to advertise their work.Johnson is trying to […]
Diana Johnson’s bill aims to reduce demand for sex work by making its purchase illegal. Instead, the law could put women in danger and drive them into poverty Lauren Crosby Medlicott @laurenmedlicott Last Wednesday, Dame Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Kingston Upon Hull North, tabled a motion in the House of Commons to criminalise the purchase of […]
Sophie K Rosa @sophiekrosaParliament has passed a controversial bill proposing the UK adopts the ‘Nordic model’ for its laws on sex work. The bill, brought by Labour MP Diana Johnson on Wednesday, is opposed by sex workers and groups including Amnesty International, harm-reduction charity Release and Women Against Rape, who argue that the legal model it proposes is driven […]