The Safety-First Coalition which campaigns to decriminalise sex work and prioritise women’s safety is coordinated by the English Collective of Prostitutes and was launched in 2006 following the murders of five young women in Ipswich. The coalition includes anti-poverty campaigners, church people & residents from Ipswich and elsewhere, the Royal College of Nursing, the National Association of Probation Officers, members of the medical and legal professions, prison reformers, sex worker and drugs rehabilitation projects.
● The tragic murders of five young women in Ipswich caused an unprecedented outcry. Each of us deserves to be safe regardless of gender, occupation, sexual preference, race, age, nationality, immigration status or lifestyle. ● Prostitution is a survival strategy to deal with poverty, debt, rape, low wages, homelessness, unemployment… Most sex workers are mothers or […]
By the English Collective of Prostitutes Co-ordinators of the SAFETY FIRST COALITION House of Lords, second reading Wednesday 3 June. Using flawed trafficking statistics as justification, the measures target anyone involved in prostitution whether or not there is force or coercion. They would drive prostitution further underground and sex workers into even more danger. In the […]
Members of the Safety First Coalition condemn prostitution measures in the Policing & Crime Bill. Andrea Spyropoulos, Royal College Nursing: “I can see nothing in these proposals that makes women or men safer. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to criminalise individuals who are consenting adults having sex. TheRoyal College of Nursing is clear that we support decriminalisation on the basis […]
PRESS RELEASE From SAFETY FIRST – A coalition to decriminalise sex work and prioritise safety. Tel: 07811 964 171 www.prostitutescollective.net Wednesday 25 June 2008: New Zealand marks five years of successful decriminalisation of prostitution. On the fifth anniversary of the introduction of the New Zealand Prostitution Reform Act (PRA), the NZ government has published a detailed evaluation […]
Sent to the Guardian letters, 16 May 08 Dear Madam/Sir Frances Crook’s comment that Pauline Campbell, who died tragically on 15 May, had been the “single most effective and inspiring campaigner” against women’s imprisonment, is closest to the truth (“Prison campaigner, 60, found dead by daughter’s graveside”, Guardian, 16 May). Like the mothers of the […]
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 […]
John McDonnell MPMember of Parliament for Hayes & HarlingtonWestminster Office, G10 Norman Shaw SouthHouse of CommonsLONDON SW1A 2JFTel – 020 7219 1626PRESS NOTICE… PRESS NOTICE…FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASELabour MP welcomes Government’s u-turn on punitive prostitution plansThe announcement that the government is dropping plans to introduce compulsory rehabilitation for prostitutes and the threat of imprisonment is a […]
“Safety First” Against further criminalisation of sex workers in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill 2007 Wednesday 17 October 2-4 pm House of Commons, Committee Room 9 Hosted by John McDonnell MP, long-term supporter of the ECP’s work and recent contender for the leadership of the Labour Party The Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill 2007 (CJIB) is […]
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm071008/debtext/71008-0020.htm “young people who are being drawn into a lifestyle characterised by disease, degradation, death and denial.” A site called Gay Conspiracy links homosexuality with paedophilia, which is a dreadful, ignorant libel on a significant section of our community. Some reggae groups have published lyrics urging the torture and murder of lesbians and gay men. […]
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 […]
