London: Paying for sex could become a criminal offence in England and Wales if Parliament approves a new Bill which claims to protect women from sexual exploitation. But criminalisation will only further harm people who are already marginalised, argues Rachel Trafford. “You can put your whole life in danger for this money,” Maria, a sex worker and Romanian interpreter, said during an English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) event earlier this month. She has supported 50 sex workers in north London. Many came to the UK from rural areas of her home country, where unemployment is high. But on arrival in the UK, they found it hard to get work, or to obtain jobs which pay a wage they could live on. With prostitution, there is money coming quickly. And double, sometimes triple, the money you can make on the other jobs,” Maria added. “Woman take this risk for children and for their family … or because they need do it.”
Maria’s testimony highlights the intimate link between poverty and sex work. Britain is home to more than 72,800 sex workers, according to the latest estimates, of which 88% are women. About 86% of the burden of austerity was in 2017 estimated to fall on women. Universal credit benefit reforms have pushed women to sell sex for cash, food and shelter. Meanwhile, ‘hostile environment’ immigration policies have denied many migrants access to social security payments if they become unemployed or destitute. In this context, sex work has provided a means of survival for some women in the UK – but one that currently comes with a significant risk of harm.
Between 1990 and 2016, at least 180 sex workers are believed to have been murdered in the UK according to a database held by safety charity National Ugly Mugs. Today – International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers – is a day to remember them and fight for sex workers’ rights and safety.
Last week, Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson put forward a private members’ Bill which claims to protect people like Maria and those she helps. Among the law reforms it would introduce is decriminalising the sale of sex, while making it a crime for their clients to pay for it. It will also create new criminal offences relating to “enabling or profiting” from another person’s sexual exploitation. But the reality is this legislation would expose sex workers like Maria to even more danger, not less – by keeping the industry underground.
Rachel Trafford, Each Other, https://is.gd/SFb3Uc
