Underage Sex Workers- victims of trafficking or child protection policy?

Sex work law in the UK is complicated. Though it’s not fully criminalised as in most of the US, it is illegal for sex workers to share accommodation (“brothel-keeping”) even though this would improve sex workers’ safety. Soliciting and kerb-crawling are also illegal. One of the prostitution laws is that while the age of consent

The REAL Scandal of Germany’s Corporate Sex Parties

First published 29/7/14 on Cliterati as ‘Corporate Sex Parties: The Untold Scandal Behind The Headlines’.   Germany might be more open about nudity (nude parks), gender (third gender on birth certs) and sex work (it’s legalised) than Britain, but a company hiring escorts and throwing its top salesmen a sex party is still a scandal

Sex workers are #notyourrescueproject: Rape by anti-trafficking NGOs & stigma by feminists

First published on my Cliterati column on 1/2/14.   “If we want anything from outside like sweets, chewing gum or magazines or phone credit we have to give hand job or blow job to security,” reveals Molli Desi Devadasi. But she’s not talking about a prison. Molli, now a UK-based sex worker, was “rescued” by an

Interview: How Feminism Exploits Sex Workers

This is the full text of the interview with feminist genderqueer sex worker @MxLaudanum, which was quoted in this article on the rescue industry I wrote for Cliterati (published 1/02/14). The interview itself makes a very powerful post in its own right. Written in just a couple of hours, it’s a stunning critique of contemporary feminism

The Prostitution Debate: Extended Edition

On 3 June 2013, a debate on sex work was arranged by Solas, Centre for Public Christianity. The debaters were Laura Lee (Sex worker rights campaigner, blogger and sex worker), Douglas Fox (of the International Union of Sex Workers, editor of the blog Harlots Parlour and sex worker), Rhoda Grant MSP (who has put forward

Criminalising sex purchase in Scotland: public debate report & interviews

This short version of the article was first published on Blirt.com. For the longer version see The Prostitution Debate: Extended Edition. Douglas Fox, a sex worker activist, asked Rhoda Grant MSP “Imagine if your Bill [to criminalise sex purchase] is now law. Police break down the door and I’m caught in a hotel room with

Chief Police officers said UK forces should adopt the Merseyside model in 2010

The Merseyside police have been working with sex workers’ organisations to catch violent offenders, not arresting street sex workers (outdoor sex work is a minor crime – ‘soliciting’ for the sex worker and ‘kerb crawling’ for the sex purchaser – while indoor sex work is legal) until they have offered them help to exit the

The Sunday World’s outing of a sex worker and how the Merseyside model can stop this

Today, an innocent woman was outed in the Sunday World – all because one of her three part-time jobs is as a sex worker. This comes a day after Kalika Gold announced her and Ruth Jacobs’ joint project to bring the Merseyside model of declaring all crimes against sex workers as hate crimes and collaborate

The Magdalene Laundries: is this the West’s answer to honour killings?

Prime Minister Kenny said the Magdalene laundries, where “fallen women” were incarcerated, abused and used as slaves, were operating in a “harsh and uncompromising” Ireland. There was no apology, and no mention of stigma against unmarried mothers, or of whorephobia, or of slut-shaming. It was as if these issues didn’t exist. We’re used to thinking

Criminalizing prostitution: the family and violence against women

Rhoda Grant MSP’s consultation to bring the Swedish model to Scotland is going to harm families. The Swedish or ‘end demand’ model criminalizes sex purchase without criminalizing selling sex, so it at least is not as bad as criminalizing both parties like in America. But it’s still bad. Now, the fact that the model is