Monday 18th December 2017 – Sex Worker’s Vigil Outside Parliament

Below is a letter written to our MP in respect of the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (IDEVASW)

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Dear Stephen Morgan MP,

If you were told that at least 70,000 women, men and trans-people in the UK were being forced to work in dangerous conditions and were often put in danger of being robbed, assaulted or even killed, you would, I think, be quite rightly shocked by this.

I think you would think so especially if you were then told that they probably could not go to the Police for help because they would then risk arrest or even possible deportation.

Furthermore, if you were then told that was a vocal minority lobbying for a law that would put these people in even greater danger of exploitation and abuse, I hope you would agree that this is something that should not be allowed to happen.

Well, there are 70,000 such people in this country who need protection, because they are sex workers who are being endangered by existing laws and put at risk by proposed changes to those laws.

Now my first question at this point would be “has your opinion changed because I mentioned they are sex workers”? I hope not as I believe you are an open minded person who will listen to facts, rather than the opinions of the right-wing media and anti-sex work “feminists”.

These latter groups would try to claim that sex work and trafficking are the same thing or that all women sex workers are being exploited or that the only solution is the so-called “Nordic Model” which will “protect” workers by criminalising clients.

None of these claims are true, for example sex workers want to stop trafficking (and are best placed to spot it and report it, if only they could do so without risking arrest themselves).

Similarly, if women or men or trans-people choose to work in the sex industry, they should not be told that, despite their choice, they are being exploited, as if they lack agency to make that decision themselves.

Finally criminalising clients just means that sex workers are put in greater jeopardy because they will find it much more difficult to screen clients and identify potentially dangerous ones.

As you may be aware, groups as diverse as Amnesty International, the International Union of Sex Workers and even the Home Affairs Committee have called for decriminalisation of sex work and there is a very good article by Frankie Mullin here explaining why this is actually the best option: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/15/mps-protect-sex-workers-risks-70000-people-face

Tomorrow, Sunday the 17 December, is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (IDEVASW) and sex workers worldwide will be gathering to mourn and to call for change.

On Monday the 18th, outside Parliament, the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) and the Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM) will be holding a vigil between 12 and 2pm.

I would recommend and request that you visit this vigil and listen to the people who are actually working in the sex industry.

I hope you will understand that they do not want to be patronised or “protected” by people who want to control their bodies or tell them that they are not capable of making their own informed choices about what they do, let alone put them in danger of assault or death because they are denied ways to ensure their own safety.

Thank you for reading this e-mail.

Yours Sincerely,
Graham Marsden