A new petition by the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) will put pressure on Brighton and Hove City Council to ‘take all possible action’ to protect sex workers and use its influence to fully decriminalise prostitution in the United Kingdom. The petition needs 1,250 signatures to be taken to a full council meeting.
Zac Liew
The petition has four main demands. It demands that the council issues a statement in support of sex workers and the full decriminalisation of prostitution.
In addition, it calls for the council to provide resources to sex workers to help them leave sex work if they so choose, such as priority for council housing. On the other hand, it demands that it looks into what other councils have done and explore the legal powers it has to decriminalise at a local level; and, that it writes to the relevant secretaries of state to end ‘harmful’ government policies such as the bedroom tax, the two-child limit and benefit sanctions.
While it is not illegal for two consenting adults in the UK to exchange money for sex, it is illegal for sex workers to collaborate and work together. This means that sex workers must always work alone even if it makes them more of a target for exploitation, which may come in the form of violent abuse, non-payment or coercion by pimps.
It is also illegal to offer sexual services in a public location, which is known as street solicitation.
ECP’s website for the petition says that this “Forces sex workers to make a choice: to keep themselves safe and face the possibility of arrest, or avoid a criminal record and put themselves in danger.”
It adds that migrant women, disabled women, trans women and women of colour disproportionately experience violence and are often criminalised. Brighton is known for being a safer place for vulnerable people, including those from LGBTQ groups, ethnic minorities and immigrants, which may explain why ECP has targeted this council.
ECP says that sex workers in New Zealand have been safer, healthier and had a better quality of life since prostitution was fully decriminalised in 2003. The petition also recommends affordable housing, free childcare, living wage benefits, a universal guaranteed income, and pay equity as other possible solutions that could help sex workers in the UK.
Austerity cuts and the rise in the cost of living are cited as two causes for the recent rise in prostitution across the UK. The Office for National Statistics says the economic value of prostitution is the highest it’s ever been, at over £6bn.
A YouGov survey from earlier this year found that Britons think it should be legal to pay for sex in the UK, from 58% to 28%. However, 72% agreed that street solicitation should be illegal.
More information: English Collective of Prostitutes.
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