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PRESS NOTICE . . . PRESS NOTICE . . .
PRESS NOTICE . . .
Policing & Crime Bill,
Third Reading
debate
tonight, from 6pm,Tuesday 19 May
PUBLIC PRESSURE WINS GOVERNMENT
CLIMB DOWN ON CRIMINALISING
CLIENTS – BUT WHAT ABOUT SEX WORKERS? WHY ARE WE BEING
ARRESTED?
The government has been forced to amend
Clause 13 of the Bill which made it a criminal offence for a
man to have sex with a person “controlled for gain” whether
he knew it or not. “Controlled for gain” is being replaced
with “force, deception or threats”. The difference
between consensual situations where sex workers are working
voluntarily, and situations where women are being coerced
and suffer violence, is finally being acknowledged.
This climb
down comes after months of Home Secretary
Jacqui Smith, Minister for Women
Harriett Harman and other government feminists and advisers
claiming that all prostitution is rape, and that men must be
made to “think twice” before paying for sexual services.
While using
trafficking as an excuse to criminalise clients, they have
shown no concern for the safety of sex workers.
WHAT
ABOUT WOMEN’S SAFETY?
The
government is using this amendment to guillotine discussion
on women’s safety and the need to decriminalise prostitution
so that sex workers can insist on their right to protection
from violence and exploitation.
Nothing
has been said about the
continuing raids, prosecutions and convictions against women
who are working collectively and independently, and usually
discreetly, without exerting any force or coercion on
anyone. It is not illegal to exchange sexual services
for money. So why are sex workers being prosecuted? What
is their crime?
It is well
know that working from premises in 10 times safer than
working on the street, and that
working collectively is safer than working on your own.
Why are women being prevented from working more safely?
The offences of “controlling
prostitution for gain” and “keeping a brothel used for
prostitution” (2003 Sexual Offences Act) do not require
evidence of force and coercion. They
criminalise women working together. And
prosecutions are rising yearly – from 3 in 2004, to 11
in 2005, to 39 in 2006, to 41 in 2007 (Answers to Lord
Faulkner, Hansard 15 January
2009.)
Women whose primary role is to
ensure other women’s safety continue to be prosecuted and
convicted for brothel keeping despite having
no control over the sex workers they work with. And despite
precedent cases such as
Elliott & Kuhn v DPP and
Dublidis v DPP in which Justice Taylor ruled that,
“some evidence of control or a say in the running of
premises is essential before a court can find that a person
can be found to be ‘assisting in the management’.
Women end up
institutionalised in prostitution by criminal records
as they cannot get other jobs, even when they are qualified
for them.
After the
tragic murders of five young women in
Ipswich, the English Collective of Prostitutes
brought together the Safety First Coalition. We have been
campaigning, holding public meetings in Parliament,
arranging for MPs and Peers to visit Soho and meet some of the women this Bill would be
criminalising. The strength of feeling against prostitution
being driven further underground has been enormous and
enormously varied.
Safety First
includes anti-poverty campaigners, church people & residents
from Ipswich & elsewhere,
the Royal College of Nursing, the National Association of
Probation Officers, Women Against Rape, members of the
medical & legal professions, prison reformers, sex worker &
drugs rehabilitation projects. All agree that rape and
other violent crime must be prioritised,
and prostitution decriminalised.
Last week at his annual congress, the
Royal College of Nursing voted to: “make
recommendations to the
UK government to allow up to four sex
workers to work together legally before requiring a
license”. The vote was an overwhelming 93%. Why?
Because nurses understand that
criminalisation makes it harder for sex workers to
access health and other services, and that women worried
about being arrested are less likely to come forward to get
help, report violence, etc.
THE HOUSE OF ILL REPUTE IS CORRUPTING THE
POLICE
The police have a VESTED INTEREST in
raiding premises for prostitution.
Since the Proceeds of Crime Act, raids
and prosecutions of women working in prostitution have
become profitable. The police keep 25% of any assets
confiscated both at the time and from subsequent
prosecutions; the Crown Prosecution Service keeps
another 25%; and the Inland Revenue the rest.
This corruption of law and order has
serious implications for all policing – it determines
priorities. Not the
seriousness of the offence and the need to protect the
public, but whether or not the police are going to benefit
financially. Prostitution raids are profitable. They make
good money and good statistics, and the effort is minimal.
The laws on prostitution and on proceeds
of crime are corrupting law enforcement. It is common for
police to seize any money found on premises they raid. Even
if no one is charged, the money is rarely returned as police
take advantage of sex workers’ reluctance to go public.
Women who have worked for years to put money aside lose not
only their livelihood but their home, car, life savings,
jewellery, etc. This is the
worst form of pimping.
The Policing and Crime Bill will make it
legal for the police to sell the property they have
raided and closed even before anyone has been convicted for
a crime.
STOP CRIMINALISING MOTHERS
70% of prostitute women are mothers, mostly single
mothers. What is their crime? Struggling to support
themselves and their families. Government figures found
that 74% of off-street sex workers “cited
the need to pay household expenses and support their
children.
These measures are being brought in at
the same time as the Welfare Reform Bill. The government is
legislating for destitution and therefore for an increase in
prostitution.
If the Welfare Reform Bill goes through,
mothers, 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, women over 60, and even
traumatised victims of domestic
violence. Those who can’t find jobs will have to ‘work for
their benefits’ i.e. for £1.73 an hour! Anyone
refusing to comply with the new rules or unable to cope will
face economic sanctions.
Given the greatest economic crisis most
of us have ever seen, where are all these women to find
jobs? As more women end up in prostitution as a result of
the recession and the proposed welfare cuts, more will be
criminalised and sent to prison
under this Bill. Children will be separated from their
mothers.
WHY ISN’T
NEW ZEALAND
BEING FOLLOWED?
New Zealand successfully
decriminalised all prostitution,
both indoors and on the
street, six years ago. There has been no increase in
prostitution and women find it safer. The government has
refused to look at
New Zealand.
Further information and
full briefing of the Bill:
http://www.prostitutescollective.net/PolicingandCrimeBill09Briefing.htm
English Collective
of Prostitutes
PO Box
287
London
NW6 5QU
Tel: 020 7482 2496
Fax: 020 7209 4761
Email:
ecp@allwomencount.net
Web:
www.prostitutescollective.net
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