Concerns have risen within the sex workers community of how the identification techniques employed by the police force are going to affect them in the backdrop of a government crackdown on street sex work.
Dr. Anne Killett from the University of East Anglia worked on the academic evaluation of the Ipswich street prostitution strategy, which saw the enforcement of a zero-tolerance policy on kerb-crawlers and women guilty of soliciting. Her team had observed “evidence of street prostitutes seeking other means to pursue their activities”. One of them is keeping in touch with clients through their mobiles.
The Home Office has recently announced their intention to widen the national database of mobile phone numbers. Catherine Stephens – spokesperson of the International Union of Sex Workers – has said these initiatives could turn out to be a double-edged sword for vulnerable prostitutes, as they could provide both greater protection, but they could also make them feel persecuted.
Michael Parker, spokesperson of the organisation NO2ID, agrees with the last contention: “one of our main concerns is that by forcing everyone to have an identity card we are going to push people who are living in the fringe of the law further and further away from the services that are meant to protect them. Life is going to be harder for them as they will loose the trust in the police and the criminal justice system. Many sex workers have a great deal of problems. If they have mental health problems having suffered from traumatic life experiences, or if they suffer from drug addictions, they will run away from these additional pressures. You may end up in a situation were people become “unpeople” and cease to exists because they are not part of a national database”.
A spokesperson from Sex Workers and Allies Action Network (SWAN UK) said: “If sex workers are expected to carry ID Cards at all times that could obviously threaten their personal security and many could potentially be exposed to blackmail”.
Anne Killett has said that she is “very concerned” about the potential consequences of this strategy.
In the following 18 month the police will be provided with a portable device – known as Mobile Identification at Scene (Midas)- that will take and identify fingerprints in the street. Campaigners have asked for guarantees that fingerprints of non-offenders will not be stored.
There needs to be more postiveness in the words that come from women who are involved with this very importiant issue and pro K is the first steping stone for our sister safty and to put the courts (judges) back a couple of octives. I am not new to this I haved worked with Rachel in the begging of this fowel judgement calls on our sisters. Hi rachel its mary from MIE.
thank u for the EAR
musgy