On Tuesday 8 July 2014, the French Senate rejected proposals to criminalise sex workers’ clients. The Select Committee considering the proposal consulted sex workers and other organisations over several months and found that people were alarmed about the danger caused to sex workers. The Committee received compelling evidence that clients, anxious about being fined, could […]
Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work Discussion: Melissa Gira Grant & Niki Adams, English Collective of Prostitutes Chair: Selma James March 31, 2014, 6.00pm – 8.00pm University of London Union. Malet Suite – 2nd floor, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY ⋅ Selma James chairs a discussion between Melissa Gira Grant and Niki Adams, English Collective of Prostitutes Join us for this […]
Las prostitutas necesitan mejores aliados que los hombres franceses centrados en sus propias libertades sexuales – pero, demasiado a menudo, las feministas sólo hacen sus vidas más difíciles Selma James Los 343 hombres intelectuales franceses que firmaron una declaración —“No toques a mi puta”(1)— defendiendo su derecho a comprar servicios sexuales han enfurecido a las mujeres […]
Prosititutes need better allies than French men focused on their own sexual freedoms – but too often, feminists only make their lives harder Selma James The 343 French intellectual men who signed a statement – “Hands off my whore” – defending their right to buy sexual services has infuriated women and caused wide controversy. Not only does […]
Fondatrice de la campagne internationale pour un salaire au travail ménager et figure historique du féminisme autonomiste des années 1970, Selma James est fermement engagée dans la lutte contre la criminalisation de la prostitution. Dans cette tribune initialement parue dans le Guardian, Selma James revient sur le « Manifeste des 343 salauds » pour en proposer une critique […]
A life in writing: Selma James ‘By demanding payment for housework we attack what is terrible about caring in our capitalist society’ The last time Selma James was interviewed by the Guardian was in 1976, by the feminist columnist Jill Tweedie. At that time, James was a household name – in feminist households at least […]
Siobhain ButterworthReaders EditorThe Guardian10 November 2009 Dear Siobhain Butterworth We wish to submit a complaint about misinformation reported in the Guardian following Nick Davies’s excellent investigation on figures of women trafficked into the sex industry. 1. Denis MacShane MP claims that the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) “grew out of the Wages for Housework campaign started by […]
The “war” with Denis MacShane on Newsnight was not about statistics but about the policies the statistics were invented to justify. New Labour legislation would increase police powers against both sex workers and clients. Now that the figures have been discredited, MacShane calls them ‘futile’.Paxman was not “hostile”; he was Paxman. But MacShane was confronted […]
The government is criticised for not criminalising prostitutes’ clients enough (New law on forced prostitution weakened, say women’s groups, 20 May). But what about their increasing criminalisation of women? Not accidentally, the crime bill and the welfare reform bill are going through parliament together. If passed, mothers, especially single mothers, will lose income support and must […]
By: Global Women’s Strike & others (see below)Target: UK ParliamentThe Welfare Reform Bill – State-enforced destitutionMothers, especially single mothers, will lose Income Support and be forced to “progress towards work” or take a job. So will carers of people with disabilities, mostly women, and women over 60. Traumatised victims of domestic violence will have a month […]