Peter Walkey is facing trial on TUESDAY 30 August (Woolwich Crown Court) for managing a brothel because he let a woman use a room in his house to work. She wanted to be safe and he wanted to help. For that he risks a criminal conviction and possible prison. There is no public interest in […]
As the UK looks poised to decriminalise sex work, Siobhan Fenton meets the English Collective Prostitutes to discuss what life is like for sex workers under the current prostitution lawsSiobhan FentonIn years gone by, sex workers might have been viewed by society as people to be pitied, mocked or even judged, with whispered stereotypes about ‘fallen […]
By Harriet Agerholm London has seen a 191 percent increase in the number of 18 to 25-year-old women arrested for prostitution, according to exclusive police figures obtained by Broadly. Why are young sex workers getting apprehended by cops? Maria* was working as a prostitute on the street in east London when a pimp threatened to […]
By Frankie Mullin”When I first came to Open Doors I was picked up off the street by a drugs worker. I was wearing shoes without any soles,” says K, who suffers from a range of health problems but now describes her life as “harmonised”.”When I first met Open Doors, I was homeless, in prostitution and […]
Sophie Hemery Sex workers are increasingly subject to enforcement by police and local authorities in the form of dispersal orders, fines and prosecution. At a focus group on street sex workers’ health, Angelica is a natural orator. She is funny and passionate, and shares her life’s successes and struggles with hard-won conviction. At almost 60 […]
By Margaret Corvid. From the column ‘Europe: The Final Countdown’ Against the backdrop of the EU referendum campaign, London-based Romanian women sex workers are using EU law to challenge the police and fight for their rights. Under Operation Nexus, the Met are monitoring Romanian sex workers, rounding them up and ordering them to leave the […]
The prostitution laws are unjust and devious and lead to thousands of women a year being arrested, raided, prosecuted and even imprisoned.Police crackdowns break up safety networks. (i) Street workers are forced into isolated areas and are prevented from screening clients. Brothel-keeping law makes it illegal for two or more sex workers to work together. […]
Women targeted by Operation Nexus, which aims to deport foreign offenders, say they are legitimately self-employedAlthough freedom of movement is guaranteed within the EU, the right to stay after three months is dependent on new arrivals working or studying.A policy aimed at deporting “high-harm” EU-national criminals and those not entitled to remain in Britain is […]
By Frankie Mullin And here we are in 2016, discussion raging once more. Sex workers sidelined, once more. When the current UK inquiry gathered oral evidence there were three main witnesses: just one current sex worker, Laura Lee; a former prostitute and survivor of abuse within the industry, Mia de Faoite; and UK Feminista’s Kat […]
Sex Workers Reveal What Cops Took from Them During Police Raids. In the UK, sex workers are losing everything in police raids—even their family jewelry. We speak to women who think they are being unfairly targeted by the cops. By Frankie Mullin Janice is 60 years old and, for many years, sold sex. “The […]