Share This Article
Beneath the glare of Leicester Square and surrounded by police officers, a legion of feminists assembled last week to demand action over ongoing discrimination against women. It was the first time in two years that a sex workers’ march had gone ahead, and this was reflected in atmosphere—one of simmering anger.
A glance over the crowd revealed a scattering of bright crimson umbrellas peeking above one particular corner. Beneath them were placards reading: “No bad whores, just bad laws”, “Seize the moans of productions”, and “I’m fucking the patriarchy, are you?” These were the cammers, the escorts, the strippers, who for one night had vacated their places of work to protest against the ongoing stigmatisation and criminalisation of their occupations.
Ahead of the strikes, the organising group, Decrim Now, who campaign for the decriminalisation of sex work, released a statement explaining the aims of the action. It read: “Our workplaces should not be places of violence or harm. We have a right to work safely, collectively, and without police intervention. We have a right to refuse to work, to set boundaries, and to keep ourselves safe.”
For two protesters, who asked not to be named, decriminalisation is intertwined with social stigmatisation: “There isn’t a part of society when you’re not cornered and made to feel like an object in one way or another.”
“Over-sexualised or a piece of shit- you’re either one or the other, and it’s very hard to find a middle ground.”
There are almost 73,000 people working within the UK’s sex industry, 88 per cent of which are women, six per cent men, and four per cent transgender.
The laws around sex work in the UK are not straightforward. A person can buy sex but the means by which workers bring in their clients, such as poster adverts or meeting them on the street, can result in prosecution. Selling sex is not illegal but keeping a sex venue is.
Under current laws, two sex workers living and working in the same apartment is considered a brothel, so often prostitutes are forced to choose between living together with constant fear of arrest, or going it alone and compromising their safety and security.
Another major issue with existing policies is the impact they have on migrants who have turned to the sex industry. Anti-trafficking raids are a common occurrence, used to arrest and deport workers originally from outside of the UK. Decrim Now call these raids sexist, racist, and violent.
Police cite them as ‘rescues’ when in fact they can leave workers in a more vulnerable state than that in which they were found. There have been numerous cases in which women have been arrested not for sex related offences but for being undocumented. One raid of every six massage parlours in Chinatown, London, in 2017 resulted in 24 arrests, 17 of which were on immigrations offences – 13 people were deported. The consequences of this only make those deported more vulnerable to exploitation.
Enjoyed this article? Read more here: First condoms approved for anal sex
