Soho
Sex workers have been in Soho, central London, for at least 200 years. During that time there has been constant attempts to arrest women and raid and close down the premises where we work. Since the 1980s women in Soho have been part of the ECP’s network and we have spearheaded campaigns against evictions and landgrabs. For example, in 2013, we mobilised against mass police raids which forced the closure of flats where women were working in relative safety. Most were re-opened, and the lie promoted by the police that the raids were aimed at saving victims of trafficking was thoroughly discredited. See more here: ‘Soho Fights’.
Metro: The social media trend leaving Soho sex workers fearing for their lives
Lauren Crosby MedlicottDressed in a black puffa jacket and box fresh trainers, a teenager scurries towards a flat door and kicks it frantically, before changing position to give it a good boot from a different angle.The flurry of frenzied blows only last for a few seconds – but it’s all been caught on camera. Not to capture […]
Westminster Extra: Sex workers’ call for Met help
Security and safety fears in Soho after spate of men storming walk-upsBy Tom FootTHE police are failing to protect Soho sex workers from a disturbing social media trend, according to campaigners who are urging politicians to make legislative reforms to better protect women.The English Collective of Prostitutes has written to Westminster’s borough commander after crowds of […]
The Times: London sex workers ‘live in fear’ of teenage harassers with cameras
Groups are filming themselves charging into premises in the West End and posting the videos onlineAndy Silvester, London EditorSex workers in London’s West End are “living in fear” after being harassed by large groups of teenagers, who film themselves “charging” into their premises.In recent weeks dozens of incidents have occurred in which groups numbering as […]
Dazed: Why sex workers went on strike this week
Text Emma Garland ‘Your job isn’t empowering either’ Last night, the Women’s Strike took place on the streets of the UK for the first time in two years. Hundreds gathered in London’s Leicester Square – protestors, activists and members of trade unions like United Voices of the World (representing low-paid, migrant and precarious workers) and IWGB (founded by Latin American cleaners, […]
Sex Workers Striking Against Violence – Interview with Cari Mitchell, ECP
Interview byCOMITÉ AUTONOME DU TRAVAIL DU SEXE // SEX WORK AUTONOMOUS COMMITTEECari Mitchell is a former sex worker and a member of the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), a network of sex workers in the United Kingdom working both outdoors and indoors campaigning for decriminalisation and safety. 1 In 2000, the ECP organized a sex workers’ strike […]
Instagram Live – Soho tour! 10 December
**** IF YOU COULDN’T JOIN LIVE, YOU CAN STILL WATCH THIS ON OUR IG PAGE HERE. Sex workers have been in Soho, central London, for at least 200 years! Want to know more about the area and the campaigns led by women in our network to resist raids, evictions and landgrabs? Join us on Friday […]
The Guardian: Letter – Soho sex workers’ protest did bring about change
Cari Mitchell on the campaign to increase safety for women working in flats in London’s Soho district Your review of Hot Stew, a novel set amid the brothels of Soho (10 March) condemns as “disastrous” the forms of protest attempted by the prostitutes. But in real life, a sex worker-led campaign of meetings and marches, pickets and protests […]