Harm Reduction

In the Booth with Ruth – Andrew Boff, Conservative Member of the London Assembly

Conservative Member of the London Assembly, Andrew Boff, explains why the Merseyside model – making all crimes against people in prostitution/sex workers hate crimes – is needed in London.

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

andrew-boffFrom your research of the Metropolitan Police, can you tell me how they are dealing with crimes committed against people in prostitution/sex workers? 

Some police, and indeed some boroughs and units in the MPS, are doing a great job. However unfortunately, it takes just one bad officer to disproportionately damage relations between sex workers and police.

What concerns were raised in your report?

One of the concerns in my report, Silence on Violence, was that there was consistent evidence that police had been proactively raiding sex establishments without complaints or significant intelligence that exploitation was taking place.

Can you explain how this affects people in prostitution/sex workers when a crime is committed against them?

NHS projects had noted that ‘brothel’ raids and visits had led to the displacement of sex workers away from their support networks, which led to their lives and health being at increasing risk. There is another concern – that when police…

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The Merseyside model – to make all crimes against people in prostitution/sex workers hate crimes – must be made UK wide!

coventrywomensvoices's avatarCoventry Women's Voices

Guest Blog from Author and Charity and Human Rights Campaigner – Ruth Jacobs

**Trigger Warning**

 Lost LivesFrom “Hate Crime, Harm Reduction & Social Inclusion: Addressing Violence Against Sex Workers in Merseyside” by Shelly Stoops (ISVA) Armistead Street Project, Liverpool CHT. http://www.ihra.net/files/2010/08/31/1009.pdf

“These very real women photographed above are dead. They were murdered, and most of their cases remain unsolved. Women in prostitution suffer higher rates of murder [the mortality rate for women in prostitution in London is twelve times the national average – Home Office 2004a], higher rates of rape [more than half have been raped and/or seriously sexually assaulted in the UK – Home Office 2004b], and higher rates of physical violence [at least three quarters have been physically assaulted – Home Office 2004b]. And when they are made to disappear, most of society does not care.

In 2006, Merseyside police declared crimes against people in prostitution/sex workers hate crimes. The results are so…

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In the Booth with Ruth – Jayne Rogers, Community Mental Health Team Leader

Jayne Rogers, a Community Mental Health Team Leader, is interviewed to explain why the Merseyside model – of making all crimes against people in prostitution/sex work hate crimes – is so desperately needed throughout the UK.

She says, “There is a long history of women with mental health problems being violently sexually abused and forced into prostitution by pimps… The police are generally of very little help… The women I work with feel it’s pointless reporting anything to the police – nothing ever happens. They feel powerless to act, and this makes working with people for a better future very hard!”

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

Jayne Rogers

How do you feel about the police?

I come from a perspective of working in mental health; there is a long history of women with mental health problems being violently sexually abused and forced into prostitution by pimps.

The police are generally of very little help and appear to think that abuses should be managed by services operating safeguarding policies to protect the vulnerable. Of course this means that women do not receive a service.

You need to be very persistent to get police to attend. However, once there, they revert to the standpoint of services protecting users through safeguarding policies. It’s intolerable that vulnerable women do not get a helpful service from the police.

How do you think those in the sex trade feel about the police? Are you able to expand on this with specific examples?

The women I work with feel it’s pointless reporting anything to the police…

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