“Disabled people will be the first to be affected by the law” October 30, 2008

Home Office plans to tackle demand for prostitutes by criminalizing clients are likely to affect disabled people who pay for sex, UK Sex workers have said.

“The way they want to change the law is to make it illegal to pay for sex. Disabled people will be the first to be affected by the law”, says Tuppy Owens, founder of the TLC Trust – a voluntary body that provides opportunities, advice and support to disabled men and women to find appropriate sexual and therapeutic services.

“Most clients will continue to see sex workers, but if you are blind, you cannot see if you are being watched, and if you employ someone to push your wheelchair, it is probably against the contract to be engaged in illegal acts! Disabled people have little privacy or chance to be naughty.”

In a letter to the Home Office, Alan Taylor, a 35 year old disabled man, has said: “the only sexual pleasure I can have is by paying sex workers for sexual experience (when I can afford it that is), as that is my only option”.

Douglas Fox, a sex worker and campaigner has said: “Many of my clients are disabled. Their carers or their parents make the appointment for them. Some of them are paralysed; others have suffered strokes or are deaf and dumb”.

Alan Campbell, MP is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Home Office is currently leading the government’s initiatives and has responded: “If the client is exchanging sexual favours with someone that is being controlled for gain he will be persecuted – no matter what his condition might be”.

The British Council of Disabled People – a campaigning organisation that strives to achieve full independence and human rights for the disabled- currently has no position on organisations like the TLC Trust. The spokesperson Julie Newman has said: “We are against the perpetuation of the stereotype of Disabled People as sexually infantilised or the passive recipients of actions being done to them”.

The TLC Trust was funded in 2000 and is run by volunteer sex workers, disabled people, academics, health professionals.

Better known as surrogate partners, their practice is not unheard of. In the past both the Australian and the Danish government has come under attack for paying prostitutes to have sex with disabled clients under the ‘Sex, irrespective of disability” campaign.

Belgian care homes also provide prostitutes for disabled residents in order to grant them “the right to their sexuality”.

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill 2007 envisions the criminalization of the buying of sex. On the 26th February 2008 disabled members of Outsiders, academics and sex workers decided to demonstrate against this. Around fifty people lined the south side of Westminster bridge, many in wheelchairs. That afternoon, the clauses that would have banned people using sex workers were dropped from the Bill.

“The battle was over but sadly the war was not won” says Tuppy Owens, “as the Home Office is planning to find other ways to pursue this strategy”. 

Sweden’s attempts at abolishing the oldest profession in the world May 20, 2008

Since 1999, prostitution in Sweden is considered a crime and a violence against women. The Swedish Parliament was then composed of nearly 50% women. 

What about male prostitutes?

In five years the number of women sex workers in Sweden has dramatically decreased. According to the Women’s Justice Center, the number of women in street prostitution has been reduced by two-thirds, whereas the number of johns has been reduced by 80%. “Gone too”, the Justice Center successfully claims, “are the renowned Swedish brothels and massage parlours which proliferated during the last three decades of the twentieth century when prostitution in Sweden was legal”. The list seems to be all ticked off: “The number of foreign women being trafficked in Sweden for sex is nil”.

Is everything really so rosy?

The New Zealand’s success story May 18, 2008

On June 23, 2005 the Prostitution Reform Act made prostitution, pimping and the owning of brothels legal. This reform act was designed to safeguard the human rights of sex workers and protect them from exploitation. The Act was conducive to public health. For example, among its health and safety requirements there is the compulsory use of condoms. Most importantly, it made an offence for sex workers to be under the age of 18.

According to the just published report of the Prostitution Law Review Committee, the number of sex workers in New Zealand has not increased. A 2007 estimate in five centres – Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hawkes Bay and Nelson- found a total of 2332 sex workers.

• 93% of them cited money as the reason for getting into and staying in the sex trade.
• Fewer than 17 per cent said they are working to support drug or alcohol use
• More than 60% felt that they were more able to refuse to provide commercial sexual services to a particular client since the enactment of the law.
• A significant majority felt that there had been improvements in the incidences of violence occuring in their profession.
• More than 90% feel they have legal rights under the act.      
• 1.3 percent of sex workers were underage

The committee found that the most significant barriers to exiting are loss of income, reluctance to lose the flexible working hours and the “camraderie and sense of belonging of their profession”.

Overall the committee has found that in the five years since the Act has come into force there have been some improvements. The Associate Justice Minister Lianne Dalziel has said that the act has had tangible positive effects.

See this blog post: “Good news on the effects of the New Zealand Prostitution law”

Netherlands: the par excellence Red Light District May 16, 2008

“It breaks down like this-

It’s legal to buy it, it’s legal to own it. And if you’re the proprietor of a hash bar, it’s legal to sell it. Its legal to carry it, but that doesn’t really matter because – get a load of this – if you get stopped by the cops in Amsterdam, it’s illegal for them to search you”.  Pulp Fiction

In the Netherlands sex workers have access to the social security system, may join unions, have to pay income tax and are treated like any other self-employed tradesperson. Health and social services are readily available, but people who work in the sex industry are not required to register or undergo mandatory health checks. Sex workers have to be at least 18 years old. 

This system has worked well so far, but things are about to change. The widespread phenomenon of Human trafficking has led to a revision of the laws in many countries. Last week the Dutch government announced plans to criminalise the visiting of prostitutes that are not officially licensed. Furthermore, authorities will compel prostitutes to be registered in a national database. Previously, only brothels had tobe registered to obtain a license. 

Jack the ripper’s back – Providing a Context May 10, 2008

The Million Woman rise march was meant to be an occasion for women’s groups to come together and share their problem in an atmosphere of complete solidarity and understanding. I shouldn’t have been surprised that in the end, politics came in the way.

As members of the ECP voiced their outrage at Teresa McKay being hushed, questions were raised about the Coalition’s good faith.

Why was Teresa McKay stopped from speaking? Was it really a matter of organisation, or was it pure bigotry?  The ECP made sure her speech was published online for everyone interested to see.

The draft speech can be found in the All women count website (http://www.allwomencount.net/EWC%20Sex%20Workers/Teresa’sbannedspeech.htm)

A year and a half ago, 5 women were brutally killed in the area surrounding Ipswich in Suffolk, England by Steve Wright, a regular prostitute haunter.  The incident was a grotesque reminiscent of the Yorskhire murders, which also affected prostitutes. These murders received a lot of media attention and raised some issues in regards to the UK law on prostitution and the working conditions of sex workers.

Teresa MCKay wished to revisit these issues and question the government’s response through the reformed Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

·      Health and Safety

·      Representation

·      Poverty and Inequality

·      Employment rights

Two months ago the Coalition didn’t have a policy on it. I spoke to Sabrina Qureshi from the MWR coalition to find out if things had changed, following the events.  They are yet to form any policies, but consultations will start by the end of this month.  A part from the MWR coalition and the various organisations, these problems are for everyone to consider. Prostitution, as any social is, affects everyone in society and the law should not be solely put together by the parliamentary lobbies.