human rights

BBC1 Inside Out – Documentary Investigating Policing of Prostitution in the South East – Monday 13 Jan, 7.30PM

Inside Out - Merseyside model 750A short documentary investigating the policing of prostitution in the South East will air on Monday 13 January at 7.30PM. It will compare this with the Merseyside hate crime model, which leads the country, ensuring people in the sex trade feel safe to report crimes committed against them and perpetrators are convicted.

As well as airing on BBC1 in the South East region, the documentary can be watched across the UK on BBC iPlayer and on Sky channel 963 and Freesat 959.

At 7AM on Monday morning I’ll be on BBC Radio Kent discussing the Merseyside model with Clare McDonnell and at 10AM I’ll be interviewed about my past in prostitution by Julia George.

A clip from the previous BBC1 North West documentary on the Merseyside model can be watched worldwide on BBC News here.

The BBC1 London Merseyside Model documentary can be viewed on iPlayer here.

For more information on the Merseyside model click here.

Please add your name to the Change.org petition calling for the Merseyside model to be made law UK wide.

In the Booth with Ruth – Jes Richardson, Sex Trafficking Survivor, Former Sex Worker and Anti-Sex Trafficking & Sex Worker Rights Activist

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

Jes Richardson

How did you become involved in the movement against sex trafficking and sexual exploitation?

I first heard of sex trafficking four years ago. I was attending a District Meeting with a volunteer organization where the luncheon speaker was presenting on International and Domestic Sex Trafficking. As he presented, I realized for the first time that I had experienced trafficking and my abuse wasn’t my fault. Adding to the realization, I had been trafficked in the hotel where the District Meeting was being held, twelve years prior. At that moment, I knew I had to speak. I needed to share my journey. If I didn’t have awareness of what I had experienced, then how many other people shared those same experiences? This began my quest for a deeper understanding of the language surrounding my own journey and how we can be most effective in stopping trafficking.

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Chris Arnade’s ‘Faces of Addiction’ & the Case for Basic Income and the Decriminalisation of Drugs and Prostitution

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

Chris Arnade was a trader on Wall Street for 20 years until 2012 when he left to focus on photography. Having been involved in a project with Hunts Point Alliance for Children, he got to know some of the local residents in Hunts Point, South Bronx, the poorest neighbourhood in New York City, who were trapped in poverty, addiction and prostitution. With their permission he has been taking their pictures and sharing their stories. His ‘Faces of Addiction’ series documents the lives of these people who have become his friends.

Some people might prefer to look the other way and pretend other people aren’t living like this. But the harsh truth is they are and I hope instead the stories on this page inspire more people to support harm reduction and decriminalisation for drugs and prostitution, which Chris Arnade also believes is the best legislation for people who take drugs…

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