Prostitution is increasing because of austerity. A 60% increase in street prostitution recorded in Doncaster is primarily attributed to destitution caused by benefit sanctions,.with charities saying: “Women are being forced to sell sex for £5 because of benefit sanctions.” Sheffield reports a 166% increase (2014) while charity workers in Hull report: “ . . . women who are literally starving and they are out there to feed themselves.”
Government research proves sex workers feel unsafe under the current law; they want decriminalisation and so does the public.Government research published today provides evidence that the current prostitution laws increase the chance of harm and undermine sex workers’ safety.Laura Watson from the English Collective of Prostitutes which submitted evidence from its national network of sex workers working […]
Evidence that women are being driven to sex work because of problems with universal credit must lead to government action, MPs have said.A number of women told the work and pensions committee they turned to sex work because their benefits payments did not cover their basic needs.The committee said the government had previously been “dismissive” of […]
As the government faces calls to axe the five-week wait for Universal Credit payments, one ex-claimant describes her experience.One woman told Sky News she had been forced to sell sex for £5 after Universal Credit struggles.Women are being driven to carry out “survival sex” work because of the five-week wait for Universal Credit payments, MPs […]
BY GEORGIA ASPINALL Women are being forced into survival sex work to afford basic necessities because of issues with universal credit according to new warnings from MPs. The work and pensions committee has lambasted the government for not taking the issue seriously sooner, having previously said that the link between universal credit and survival sex work was […]
MPs said the wait for the first payment was one of the ‘deep, structural problems’ with Universal Credit and called for it to be scrapped By Serina Sandhu The Government must end the five-week wait for Universal Credit as it is often the reason claimants say they are forced into “survival sex”, MPs have said. The […]
Response to the Report from the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee Inquiry into Universal Credit and “survival sex” Laura Watson from the English Collective of Prostitutes, which gave evidence to the Committee says: “The fury against Universal Credit is growing. Women and children are its first targets and single mothers have been hit particularly hard losing […]
Families struggling to proviude meals during summer holidays By Helen Chapman CAMPAIGNERS at a food bank staged a demonstration as they warned that families are struggling to feed their children during the school holidays. Placards were held up in Lancing Street, Euston, on Thursday, with organisers hoping that their protest would highlight how people need […]
“Hello, my name is Maria and I am from the English Collective of Prostitutes”. That certainly stops police in their tracks. It’s a line I use a lot nowadays. I started working in the streets in Birmingham about a year ago. At first the police left us alone.I lived in a house with three other women. At […]
I’m two hours into my nine hour shift and it’s a quiet day. We are all feeling anxious because yesterday was quiet too, like every other day this month. I feel a mounting sense of doom at how I am going to cover my bills. I tell Mary, our receptionist, I’m writing an article about my […]
Poverty and crumbling social care have driven vulnerable people into sex work. You wouldn’t know it from this inquiry When Conservative MP Fiona Bruce chairs an inquiry into sex work, you don’t hold your breath for a triumph of progressiveness. This is a politician who is anti-abortion and has repeatedly voted against equal marriage. And yet […]