Sex workers face a lot of violence. Sex workers in London are 12 times more likely to be murdered than other women. It is much safer to work indoors with others but this is illegal.
Criminalisation increases violence. Attacks on sex workers doubled in Scotland after kerb crawling laws were introduced which criminalised clients. A 2014 survey found that where arrests of sex workers and clients were high, only 5% of sex workers who were victims of a crime reported it. This compared to 46% of victims in areas where police adopted a harm reduction approach.
Owen Bowcott Legal affairs correspondent Labour frontbencher Keir Starmer concerned about priorities of Met police after spate of robberies of premises used for sex work in London Scotland Yard has been accused of threatening to prosecute women who work in brothels rather than pursue an armed gang of robbers who have been repeatedly targeting premises […]
ECP and SWARM are devastated at the death of Romina Kalachi, a sex worker found murdered in her flat in Kilburn last week. Our thoughts are with Romina’s family and friends.Yesterday, Noor Mohammed appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court charged with Kalachi’s murder.Romina was a migrant from Italy, working in a residential flat in Kilburn. Like many […]
On 17 December we remember and commemorate the more than 140 sex workers who have been killed in the past year across the globe. Many others have lost their lives who have never hit the headlines. But we also acknowledge and count the ongoing struggle, led by sex workers to win safety and protection from rape […]
By Frankie Miren“Dirty whores.” “You should be put on fire.” So shouted the 100-strong mob as it surrounded the house of a group of women, thought to be sex workers, in Belfast on Friday 29th July. Vigilante attacks of this type aren’t new but this one was filmed and, if you have the stomach, you […]
posted by Morning Star in Features Scores of women have gone missing or been murdered in South Central LA, but racism and police indifference mean families are still awaiting answers, reports SARA CALLAWAY OVER 200 black women are missing in South Los Angeles. As many as 100 are believed to be victims of serial murders. […]
Can a “police-managed” area – one that effectively allows the street sex trade to operate legally – ever truly keep sex workers safe? BuzzFeed News spoke to the women in Holbeck, Leeds, to ask. A five-minute drive from the centre of Leeds lies Holbeck, an inner-city area that could be mistaken for any other industrial-led […]
Re managed sex worker area in Holbeck, LeedsWe have the tragic murder of Daria Pionko in our mind because the managed zone didn’t save her from being viciously attacked. But we hope that the women who worked alongside her were able to come forward with information that helped find her killer, without fearing arrest for […]
Two experts debate whether cities should be able to have legalised prostitution zones Police in one British city are turning a blind eye to prostitutes after setting up a legalised red light district. And from today the controversial pilot scheme allowing kerb crawlers to look for sex between 7pm and 7am becomes a permanent fixture. […]
Spitalfields is the centre of a sensationalised industry built around Jack the Ripper, awash with tours, trinkets … and now a cynical new museum. But does this obscure the true social history of vibrant east London?In 1888, five women working as prostitutes were murdered in London’s East End. The violence of their deaths has been […]