Today marks International Women’s Day, an annual celebration of women’s rights, and the social, economic, cultural and political achievements that women are making in the world. In the UK, it is also a day when sex workers across the country close their bedroom doors in protest against the lack of laws and regulations that surround sex work. In England, Wales and Scotland, prostitution is partially legal; money can change hands for sexual services, but aspects of sex work such as working together with someone else (and by doing so, protecting yourself from danger) or soliciting in public places, as well as owning and managing a brothel are all crimes that women can be convicted for.
This is why sex workers, along with supporters, are calling for reform of the law. A recent study by the human rights charity RightsInfo revealed that 49% of Brits would be happy to decriminalise brother-keeping, which can currently see someone go to prison for seven years.
Making sex work fully legalised would not only provide sex workers with more rights, but many claim that it would improve safety issues. To find out more about the concerns that face this line of work, we asked three sex workers to share their personal stories – what it’s like to have sex for money, the negative experiences that they’ve had and the violence they’ve faced, but above all: why they want the law to change.
Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/08/international-womens-day-three-sex-workers-tell-us-dangers-face-law-needs-chang-12363311/?ito=cbshare
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