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’.
We welcome Rupert Everett’s perceptive article and his support for sex workers (see here). Please also see Mariana Popa was killed working as a prostitute. Are the police to blame? by Diane Taylor and Mark Townsend about the policing of prostitution. Mr Everett’s article describes a Closure Order on a sex worker’s flat being granted […]
The prostitutes of London’s red-light district are being evicted. Here, Rupert Everett argues, with wit and vehemence, that closing down the brothels has nothing to do with protecting women The other night I watched Stephen Ward at the Aldwych Theatre, a morality musical about the destruction of an innocent man by the combined forces of Her Majesty’s […]
In December 2013, 250 police raided sex worker’s flats in Soho (central London). Over 20 flats were closed and women were handcuffed and dragged in their underwear onto the streets. The ECP and Soho Working Girls organised intensively against the closures, getting legal advice and publicising the injustice of the raids. 18 of the 20 […]
A TOP detective has denied any connection between police raids on brothels and plans to redevelop Soho – instead claiming the operation was inspired by American crime drama The Wire.Detective Superintendent Kevin Southworth was forced to defend the recent raids – which involved more than 40 premises in Soho – during a fiery debate in […]
WHAT THE VICTIMS OF THE POLICE RAIDS HAVE REPORTED TO THE ENGLISH COLLECTIVE OF PROSTITUTES AND LEGAL ACTION FOR WOMEN “Forty officers came into our building, approximately 20 went upstairs and 20 came into our flat. They were dressed in full riot gear, with dogs — everything but guns. They broke down our door even […]
A Closure Order against a flat in Tisbury Court, Soho, was thrown out of court this morning. District Judge Barrie found that insufficient steps had been taken to contact the owner of the premises. This decision is in contrast to the rulings of District Judge Susan Williams who presided over approximately ten other closure order […]
Rupert Everett: ‘The whole of this town is slipping through our fingers’HOLLYWOOD actor Rupert Everett joined a group of sex workers in court this week as they protested against the closure of scores of legal brothels in Soho.Earlier this month 200 police swooped on dozens of businesses in Soho in an attempt to clamp down […]
BULLDOZERS are set to roll into a historic Soho street after a massive redevelopment was given the green light, despite a string of objections claiming it would “sanitise” the area.Soho Estates was given permission to demolish parts of Walkers Court, Peter Street and Brewer Street to create new nightclubs, offices and a restaurant. The narrow […]
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Paula Nicol from the English Collective of Prostitutes, which campaigns for the abolition of the prostitution laws which criminalise sex workers and their families, and for economic alternatives and higher benefits and wages.I have worked as a sex worker in at least ten different flats in Soho […]
Stop the raids, stop the evictions. Save historic Soho from greedy developers! The first closure order against a sex worker flat was granted in court today. Help us stop the others so Soho is not handed over to developers. An application for a closure order against 27 Peters Street included claims that women are being […]