Our Senior Sexual Exploitation Service Manager Leanne Harper shares insights on our work to commemorate International Sex Worker's Day.
International Sex Worker's Day is observed annually on June 2 of each year, honouring sex workers and recognising their often-exploited working conditions. The event commemorates the occupation of Église Saint-Nizier in Lyon by more than a hundred sex workers on 2nd June 1975 to draw attention to their inhumane working conditions.
In the 1970s, French police kept sex workers under increasing pressure. The police reprisals forced sex workers to work increasingly in secret. As a result, protection of sex workers decreased and led to more violence against them. After two murders and the unwillingness of the government to improve the situation, sex workers in Lyon occupied the Saint-Nizier church in rue de Brest and went on strike. The striking workers sang political chants and demanded decent working conditions and an end to stigma.
Today across our Sex work and Exploitation services we see the stigma and oppression that sex workers face daily. The staff based within our services work tirelessly to ensure that anyone who is sex working has a voice, regardless of the situations that have led them into sex work, we seek to educate all those around us, to ensure that sex workers have the rights that they deserve from all those they meet.
Sadly, some attitudes and understanding have not yet changed from those held in 1975, time and time again we see sex workers not afforded the same rights as all other people. The police in some areas are still using “prostitute cautions” (or the local equivalent) further damaging the already frail relations between sex workers and law enforcement and having sex workers take even more risks by going underground or working in places they are not familiar with, further increasing harm. Our services are striving to change the attitudes and perceptions of all professionals, not just those in law enforcement, by delivering regular training, hoping to increase the knowledge of how and why people sex work and the nuances around it.
“Over the last 12 months we have made connections with our local police forces driving an awareness programme. We have delivered training to frontline officers, educating them of the endeavours and barriers faced by sex workers. Close relationships with the RASSO officers has also enabled better reporting by sex workers of incidents of violence and sexual assaults. There has been a recognised confidence growth in the support offered by officers, leading to sex workers feeling listened to.”
We are however lucky enough to work with some Police forces who recognise the need to not only protect but seek out and help those who are being exploited and forced into sex work. Merseyside police have been working closely with our Red Umbrella service across Liverpool to protect the most vulnerable of victims, the joint working that continues there is now seen as a model of best practise and one other some other forces are keen to replicate.
Changing Lives services will continue to seek out and support those who are most vulnerable and marginalised in our society, offering them the helping hand and listening ear that most do not, regardless of their chosen profession!
