Legalise Prostitution

The murder of 5 women in Ipswich and mass media coverage has focussed public attention on the confluence of addiction to heroin and crack amongst people called sex workers. Such that John Mann Labour MP for Bassetlaw asked Meg Munn the The Minister for Wimmin & Equality this afternoon ..." What estimate the Government have made of the percentage of women involved in the sex industry who are addicted to class A drugs. "

She replied that a 2004 Home Office study profiled 228 women involved in street-based prostitution and found that 87 % "used "heroin and 64 % "used" crack cocaine. Subsequent anecdotal evidence she said suggests that —in many areas, practically all of those involved in street prostitution used class A drugs.

To which John Mann riposted that the provision by the NHS of effective drug treatment is a key intervention in relation to prostitution, especially street prostitution and Meg Munn agreed claiming ;

1. The Government had introduced a co-ordinated prostitution strategy
2. Recognised that providing appropriate drug treatment was essential and had "invested" £600 Mn in drug treatment provision in the recent past.

Dr Brian Iddon , Labour MP for Bolton, South-East revealed that Wigan and Bolton health authority carried out a survey in recent years, of the "sex industry", which showed that 98 % of the women on-street were addicted to heroin. In contrast few of the women off-street were addicted to any drug at all.

Lorely Burt the deliciously named Liberal Democrat who represents, Solihull , the classier end of Birmingham, spared the sights of streetwalkers, felt that the Gubment's Strategy was merely a watered down change of rules allowing girls to work in pairs from an address, a crackdown on kerb crawlers and help on adiction to class A drugs and called for legalisation. This last brought the preposterous Mr. Denis MacShane scattering aside conventional wisdom (and detailed evidence) about pimps, white slave traffickers, drug dealers, addicts, sex slaves UN treaties, EU conventions and blamed the men. The Liberal Deocratic idea of legalising prostitution was ludicrous. He sat down.

Michael D E Goodyear and Linda Cusick published an Editorial in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2007; 334: 52-53 12th January - subscription only) Protection of sex workers

A full text of their arguments for legalisation can be found as a Word Document
Remembering Ipswich: a plea for human rights.

A must read analysis, succinct, precise and concise arguments - complete with 124 footnotes and many, many contemporary articles and links - for example the final Note 124 is Matthew Parris. We could have protected the Ipswich women. We failed. The Times December 16 2006.

Another which ecapsulates the dreadful conseqences of life as a "sex worker" is ;

What happens to women who sell sex? Report of a unique occupational cohort.
By H Ward and S Day Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK. h.ward@imperial.ac.uk

BACKGROUND/ OBJECTIVES: Sex work has been seen as both a health and a social problem. However, there is a paucity of evidence on the longer term impact on health. We explored the health and career paths over a period of 15 years among women who have worked in the sex industry. DESIGN: A longitudinal study of sex workers recruited between 1986 and 1993 and followed for 15 years. Outcome data were obtained through interview, clinic records, or third parties. SETTING: Clinic and community settings in London. PARTICIPANTS: We obtained outcome data on 130 (37%) of the original cohort of 354 women, with a combined follow up of 1247 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Vital status, most recent occupation, duration of sex work, sexually transmitted infections (STI), major health problems. RESULTS: The majority (73/124, 59%) were still in the sex industry and had sold sex for a mean of 13.6 years (!). There were six deaths, a mortality of 4.8 per 1000 person years. Surviving women had a high cumulative risk (110 of 118, 93%) of STI. Past gonorrhoea was associated with pelvic inflammatory disease (RR 2.28, 95% CI 1.12 to 4.66) and infertility (RR 10.9, 95% CI 1.5 to 77.3). Other outcomes included mental health problems (38 of 97, 40%) and addiction (46 of 72, 64%). There were no significant differences in health outcomes between women who were still in the sex industry and those who had stopped. There was a high level of occupational mobility, and 31 women (of 84, 37%) had completed vocational or higher education, including eight to postgraduate level. CONCLUSIONS: Sex work is associated with excess mortality and morbidity including the sequelae of STI, mental health problems, and substance abuse.

Goodyear and Cusick place the Ipswich murders in context ;

"Several other women have been murdered in the area over a 15 year period, and the number of murdered sex workers around the world continues to grow. Standardised mortality rates for sex workers are six times that of the general population (eighteen for homicide ), the highest for any group of women anywhere, with an estimated murder every two months in Britain. Premature death forms only part of the spectrum of violence and abuse experienced daily, with a high burden of physical and emotional morbidity. , Violence against sex workers is endemic, historical , , , and part of a much broader problem of violence against women. Commentators have angrily pointed out the contrast between the scant attention paid to the regular murder of women compared to a sudden concern that a “serial killer” is involved, when the issue suddenly becomes a matter of public safety. "(This paragraph has 22 references)

They go on to argue strongly for a solution or at least a Remedy ;

"To maintain the status quo is both unacceptable and moral cowardice. The Prime Minister has opposed legislative reform, and attempted to stall the rising clamour for the protection of women, but must now demonstrate leadership to restore dignity, justice and human rights by eliminating prostitution as a crime. In doing so he has a number of lessons from history to guide him. In 1883, Gladstone acceded to public pressure, and suspended the Contagious Diseases Acts following a majority vote in the house. In 2003 Helen Clark, New Zealand’s Labour Prime Minister, emphasised that her actions in supporting decriminalisation was not related to sexual morality, but to a duty to place the welfare of the vulnerable and marginalised first. A similar position was taken by the Green Party"

He finishes by reference to the Ipswich victims ;

Gemma, Tania, Anneli, Paula and Annette were some mother’s daughters, and some childrens’ mothers. Their deaths were inevitable. (*)They deserved better, but we failed them., We will honour them best, not just by memorials, but by doing the right thing.

(*)The deadly effect of zero tolerance --Attempts to stamp out the sex trade will drive it underground and put women's lives at risk

Diane Taylor Wednesday January 18, 2006 The Guradian

Whatever your views on the Legalisation of prostitution, un the UK or anywhere you should read these arguments.