hate crime

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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In the Booth with Ruth – Kate, Escort

Kate, a current escort, shares bravely from her heart, talking about times when she was attacked and raped and didn’t turn to the police. She is doing this to help others by showing why the Merseyside model of making all crimes against people in prostitution/sex work hate crimes must be made UK wide.

She says: “I would like to think that no matter which part of the spectrum you belong to – pro or anti, the actual health and safety of those working in the here and now would be uppermost. The Merseyside model should not be allowed to become part of the sex trade debate – it’s more important, more urgent than that. It should be a separate issue.”

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

Kate, Escort

How do you feel about the police?

Ambivalent, I suppose. In everyday life, were my car stolen I would contact them. If I saw someone committing a crime, I think I would contact them, and I watch the work they do under difficult circumstances here in my part of Ireland with some interest and sympathy for their difficult circumstances. But when it comes to my work, I view them with deep suspicion – I can’t deny that.

Would you say your feelings/trust in the police is influenced by being in the sex trade?

Undoubtedly, and especially as so much emphasis has fallen recently on the issue of human trafficking. That’s a good thing, where human trafficking is taking place, but I feel it has skewed their perception somewhat. And that’s not necessarily their fault. There are tremendous political pressures on the police to combat the issue. This is a highly…

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Cry for the Merseyside Model: Crimes Against People in Prostitution/Sex Workers Must Be Treated As Hate Crimes UK Wide

Crimes against people in prostitution are not only hate crimes when they occur in Merseyside, they are hate crimes wherever they occur. The Merseyside model must be made UK wide.

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

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 sex workers* hate crimes. The results are so astounding I cried reading them. In Liverpool, in 2009, police convicted 90% of those who raped sex workers. In 2010, the overall conviction rate in Merseyside for crimes against sex workers was 84%, with a 67% conviction rate for rape. 6.5% is the national…

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