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Open letter to the RCN

This open letter, signed by 50 groups and organisations, and more than 400 individuals, calls on the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to reject the motion calling for the ‘decriminalisation of prostitution’ at its upcoming 2019 Congress. We are concerned that many people will incorrectly assume the motion means the decriminalisation only of those directly engaged in prostitution and not of the entire sex trade, including pimps, brothel keepers and sex buyers (punters).

23 April 2019

Professor Rafferty, RCN President
Ms Coghill, Deputy RCN President
Members of the RCN Council

Dear Professor Rafferty, Ms Coghill and members of the RCN Council,

We write to express our concern that the upcoming RCN Congress will be asked to pass a resolution calling on “Council to lobby governments across the UK to decriminalise prostitution.”

We believe that many people will assume this means the decriminalisation only of those directly engaged in prostitution and not of the entire sex trade, including pimps, brothel keepers and sex buyers (punters) – as the proposal actually means.

There is no clear consensus that full decriminalisation of the entire sex trade is the best approach. Many women’s rights activists and sex trade survivors believe the Nordic Model is better – because it decriminalises those directly involved and provides them with high-quality services, including routes out and genuine alternatives, while cracking down on pimps and brothel keepers, and making buying sex a criminal offence, with the aim of changing attitudes and reducing the demand that drives sex trafficking.

No clear evidence full decriminalisation makes women safer

Those who support full decriminalisation generally consider New Zealand, which introduced the approach in the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act (PRA), as the example to follow. But a 2008 review found conditions in abusive brothels hadn’t improved, and the women felt it had made little difference to punter violence, which remained endemic. We hear a similar story from women, such as Sabrinna, Chelsea and Rae, who’ve experienced New Zealand’s brothels.

More recent research found there’s little independent oversight of the industry. There were only 23 brothel inspections in 2003–2015 but 914 applications for brothel operator certificates in 2004–2011. The latter suggests an increase in demand from men and profiteers wanting to cash in, which inevitably leads to an increase in sex trafficking to fill the extra demand. It’s not surprising therefore that sex trafficking is recognised to be prevalent in New Zealand, with a disproportionate number of the victims being Māori and Pacific Islander women and children. Because brothels are legal, there is little or no oversight from the police.

The author concludes that when legislation frames prostitution as normal work, it becomes virtually impossible to see it outside a labour paradigm. Punter violence is therefore a “breakdown in labour relations,” and not violence against women (VAWG) that’s intrinsic to prostitution. Similarly the predictable consequences of such violence are “occupational hazards” that must be accepted and where possible minimised but never challenged. So no one asks what prostitution is for and why it’s considered inevitable.

Entry into prostitution

Most women and girls in prostitution have histories of multiple disadvantage. UK studies found 33% were “looked after” children, 72% were abused as children, 50% started before they were 18, 50% were homeless, and 50% were coerced by someone.

Violence

Prostitution is damaging both to those in it and to society more generally. A meta study found that violence is a prominent feature regardless of the setting and prostitution deepens the disadvantages of those involved.

Studies of punters find they’re more likely to commit rape and other aggressive sexual acts. Any increase in men buying sex is therefore likely to lead to more violence against the greater numbers of women involved in prostitution and to an increase in VAWG in the general population.

Can we really afford to recommend an approach that inevitably leads to more prostitution when VAWG is already at epidemic levels?

Physical health risks

Prostitution involves a series of strangers penetrating a woman’s mouth, vagina and/or anus, often with violent and prolonged thrusting. This can lead to unwanted pregnancies, infection with HIV and other STIs, and injuries to internal organs, which can cause sterility and long-term ill-health. Condoms cannot provide a Health & Safety level of protection and men often refuse to wear them or take them off midway.

A German study based on medical examinations of 1,000 prostituted women found that most:

  • Suffer from chronic abdominal pain caused by inflammation and mechanical trauma.
  • Show signs of premature ageing, a symptom of persistent stress.
  • Had injuries caused by overuse of their sexual organs and orifices.
  • Had injuries deliberately inflicted by punters.

Financial or other pressures meant that most had to continue in prostitution even when in severe physical pain.

It is claimed full decriminalisation prevents the spread of HIV. However, this assertion is based on flawed modelling and faulty logic. The UNAIDS and WHO guidelines that recommend full decriminalisation were developed in consultation with an advisory group that was co-chaired by the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) under the leadership of Alejandra Gil, a pimp, who’s since been jailed for sex trafficking.

Mental health risks

Prostitution can have a profoundly negative impact on mental health. In order to endure multiple strangers groping and penetrating them, women describe “splitting off” from their conscious selves and/or taking alcohol or drugs. This can lead to addictions and long term psychological difficulties.

Prostituted women experience high levels of PTSD. One study found 68% of the 854 people interviewed met the PTSD criteria, which is within the range found in war veterans.

Mortality

A Canadian commission estimated the death rate of women in prostitution to be 40 times higher than the general population. Women in indoor prostitution have a very high rate of suicide. In one study, 75% of women in escort prostitution had attempted it.

Many prostituted women are murdered by punters and pimps and sadly this remains true in New Zealand. The more prostitution there is, the more murders of prostituted women there will be.

Sex trafficking

Evidence suggests that when the sex trade is legal (whether decriminalised or legalised), sex trafficking increases. For example:

  • A study of 150 countries found more trafficking where prostitution is legal.
  • An economic analysis concluded the same thing.
  • And so did an extensive study by the European Parliament.

Vested interests

Prostitution generates vast profits – estimated at $1 Billion a year in the UK and $186 Billion globally. It is capitalism at its most ruthless and predatory.

Little of that money ends up in the pockets of the women and girls who are rented out for sexual use. They are the commodity that’s being sold. Third parties get rich off the back of their suffering and have a vested interest in expanding the industry. It is no surprise therefore that there’s a powerful lobby pushing for full decriminalisation.

Two years ago the BMA debated a similar motion at its annual conference. Dr Mark Porter, chair of the BMA Council, spoke of the unprecedented lobbying they’d received and how it reminded him of lobbying by tobacco and alcohol companies. He asked delegates to reject the motion and maintain the existing BMA policy that centres the rights of women and recognises that trafficking, sexual violence and poverty force many women into prostitution.

Representatives followed his advice, but his words raise the question of who really benefits from full decriminalisation and why there’s such a vocal lobby for it.

A brief look at how Amnesty International came to adopt its policy is instructive. Douglas Fox, a pimp who ran a large prostitution ring, was a member of the branch that introduced the motion.

The policy calls for all aspects of “consensual adult sex work,” including pimps and brothel-keepers (now called “organisers”) to be fully decriminalised in order to secure “sex workers’ human rights.” But there’s no mention that in 1949 the UN declared prostitution incompatible with human rights, nor that the policy contradicts CEDAW and the Palermo Protocol.

Amnesty failed to carry out any research anywhere full decriminalisation has been implemented. Such general research they did carry out was of poor quality. They presented the arguments as if the options were between full decriminalisation and full criminalisation – when there’s no serious lobby for the latter. We question whether the policy would have been approved if they had presented the full information.

We urge the RCN Council to learn from this and not follow their lead.

Conclusion

Prostitution is seldom a real free choice between multiple viable options. Nothing can make it safe for the women and girls caught up in it, and it can never meet the requirements for “decent work”, let alone Health and Safety norms. Accepting prostitution as regular work sets a terrible precedent for all workers and means prostitution inevitably becomes institutionalised as a form of welfare for women – while men’s “right” to buy women for sex is enshrined in law.

The ethical approach must therefore be to decriminalise those involved and provide them with support and genuine alternatives, to crack down on profiteers, and introduce measures to change men’s attitudes so that prostitution buying is seen for what it is – an exploitative and damaging activity. This is exactly what the Nordic Model seeks to achieve.

We believe that the Nordic Model is the only solution that conforms to the RCN’s obligations under the NMC code to promote the health and wellbeing of the public we serve.

The motion is misleading and there’s a risk delegates will vote for it without understanding its implications. We therefore call on you to declare it defective and strike it down – or failing that, to clarify that it’s calling for decriminalisation of the entire sex trade, including pimps and brothel keepers, and that it would open the way for multi-storey brothels in this country like they have in Germany.

Yours sincerely

Organisations

  1. Nordic Model Now!
  2. Build A Girl
  3. Campaign Against Sex Robots
  4. CEASE UK
  5. Critical Sisters
  6. Equality Now
  7. Essex Feminist Collective
  8. EVE (formerly Exploited Voices now Educating)
  9. feminism4sisters
  10. FiLiA
  11. scot
  12. FOVAS
  13. Healthy Horizons
  14. Justice for Women (West Yorkshire)
  15. Kofra e.V. Munich Germany and Abolition2014
  16. Liverpool ReSisters
  17. London Feminist Network
  18. Not Buying It
  19. Not Buying It, Sheffield
  20. Not for Sale in Scotland
  21. OBJECT
  22. Older Feminist Network
  23. Older Women’s Group
  24. Persons Against Non-State Torture
  25. Plataforma Abolicionista de Salamanca (España)
  26. RadFem Collective
  27. Radical Feminist Alliance
  28. Rede Não Cala (Brazil)
  29. Religious Sisters of Charity
  30. Resist Porn Culture
  31. Rooms of our Own
  32. Scary Little Girls Association
  33. Scottish Women Against Pornography
  34. Sheffield Women’s Counselling and Therapy Service.
  35. SISTERS – für den Ausstieg aus der Prostitution! e.V.
  36. Soroptimist International
  37. Survivors for Solutions
  38. The Centre for Active and Ethical Learning
  39. The Judith Trust
  40. The Recovery Hub Ipswich
  41. The Reward Foundation
  42. TRAC
  43. Vancouver Collective Against Sexual Exploitation
  44. VictimFocus
  45. Woman’s Place UK
  46. Women’s Equality Party, Scotland
  47. Women’s Voices Matter
  48. Women’s Aid South Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire
  49. Womyn Unleashed
  50. ZERO OPTION Sheffield

Individuals

  1. A Lock
  2. Alan Caton OBE
  3. Alan Ferry, I feel strongly that the motion being presented is misguided and will do nothing for the majority of people involved in prostitution. I ran drug projects in Glasgow for a number of years and worked with many young women and men who turned to prostitution, either to supplement their incomes for drugs, or provide an income for others to do the same. As a result the young people suffered assaults, both physical and sexual, arrest and imprisonment, had their children removed from their care, and ostracisation from their families. The motion you are presenting will not address these problems in any way.
  4. Alessio
  5. Alexandra Goss, Midwife, volunteer host of asylum seekers
  6. Ali Edney
  7. Alice Bondi
  8. Alisa Yezerska
  9. Alison Batts
  10. Alison Gunn
  11. Alison Jenner
  12. Alison McGarvie, Lecturer in criminology
  13. Alison Wilson, Documentarian/Researcher (Political Sc & Communications background) – Working on a documentary on the sex industry in a Spanish context, yet these girls are bought from everywhere to feed the local and sex tourism market. I have regularly seen criminologists & nurses harass survivors on social media. This is completely unacceptable on all levels. Thank-you for your careful consideration of this letter.
  14. Alison Wren, Have volunteered in an organisation which supports women working on the street
  15. Almudena Fernandez-Alonso
  16. Amanda Burleigh , Registered Midwife + General Nurse
  17. Amanda Whyte
  18. Amy Foji
  19. Amy Wing, Survivor
  20. Anber Raz, Worked globally with survivors of prostitution for over 10 years in a legal advocacy capacity. All have consistently said that women and girls should be decriminalised and buyers criminalised.
  21. Angie Smith, Domestic violence worker
  22. Ann Moran
  23. Ann Fehilly
  24. Ann Hall
  25. Ann Keeling, Former Head Gender Equality Policy UK government
  26. Ann Speakman, Studied subject in my degree
  27. Anna Cleaves, Have run workshops with religious organisations about the lack of choice for prostituted people and the harms of prostitution.
  28. Anna Rose, Retired psychotherapist
  29. Anne Bardon, Retired social worker
  30. Anne Ehrlich
  31. Anne Farr, Former SRN
  32. Anne Kazimirski, I am a rape crisis volunteer counsellor, I have conducted (published) analysis on the mental health and childhood trauma of women trying to exit the sex industry, and I advise violence against women charities on evaluation, as a charity consultant.
  33. Anneli Thörnmo
  34. Annie Gwillym Walker, Youth Worker in the past, experience of Street Based Youth Work
  35. Anthony Martin
  36. April Chabot, Survivor, Academic
  37. Barbara Ewing
  38. Barbara Bevens
  39. Barbara Lapthorn, Ex nurse who specialised in women’s health
  40. Barbara Scott
  41. Barbara Wesby, Retired GP, seen women devastated by prostitution
  42. Bartels Hilde, Survivor of the sex trade
  43. Bec Wonders
  44. Bernadette O’Malley
  45. Bethany Lowe
  46. Bettina Trabannt
  47. Betty Hales, Teacher
  48. Biba Foley, I worked with Sex Workers in my job as drug and alcohol counsellor and co-ordinator.
  49. Billie Wealleans, I have worked on this issue as a Soroptimist or the programme action officer for Scotland North 2011-2015
  50. Billy Jess
  51. Bindu, Social worker
  52. Birgit Knaus
  53. Birte Spreckelsen
  54. Blonska Yulia
  55. Brigitte Lechner, I was a Lifeshare volunteer in Manchester and saw the reality of prostitution during every night-shift.
  56. Bronwen Salter-Murison, Have interviewed street prostitutes for work.
  57. Caitlin Hurley
  58. Cara Scott-Prestridge
  59. Carell Wingrave
  60. Carl Springer, Lead local anti-trafficking team
  61. Carley Stancil, I have an intimate relationship with a woman who is an exited fssw (sex worker) and I love her very much.
  62. Carol Fraser, Wife of a serial user of prostitutes & hard core pornography.
  63. Caroline Ayerst, As a social worker was linked to a project called Trust that supported women sex workers in Lambeth
  64. Caroline Faisey, Retired Midwife and General Nurse
  65. Caroline Hadley
  66. Caroline Horne
  67. Caroline Richmond
  68. Cat Whitehouse, Former manager in services working with women overcoming experiences of sexual violence, trafficking and prostitution.
  69. Catherine Brown
  70. Catherine Farrar, Safeguarding Specialist Nurse
  71. Catherine Jense,
  72. Cathy Devine, Academic and Independent Researcher, specialism: women’s rights.
  73. Cathy Loftus
  74. Celia Coulson
  75. Charlie Dacke
  76. Charlotte Wells, Registered General Nurse
  77. Chiara Martin
  78. Chris Wyper
  79. Christine Cluness, RGN, RSCN
  80. Christine Finlayson
  81. Christine Murray
  82. Christine Wright
  83. Ciara Perera, Work with women involved in prostitution
  84. Clair Yates, Through my work with the charity OBJECT, I have worked with women who have been exploited in prostitution.
  85. Claire Heather, Survivor of male violence
  86. Clare Phillipson, I have worked with women and girls who have been prostituted and trafficked
  87. Clare Windsor
  88. Coralie Lolliot
  89. Cordelia Mayfield
  90. Corrine Streetly, MA in Women’s Studies
  91. Csilla Florian
  92. D J Gourley
  93. Ryan
  94. Da Choo
  95. Dana Levy, Sex industry survivor (ex-prostitute)
  96. Dave Rundle
  97. David Savard
  98. Dawn Barnes
  99. Dawne Brown
  100. Debbie Epstein
  101. Debbie Stott, Teacher
  102. Debra Bick
  103. Dee Sheehan
  104. Diane Cornell
  105. Dionne Kennedy, Social worker
  106. Donald Purves
  107. Donna Robertson
  108. Donna Stevenson
  109. Doreen Kalideen, Retired nurse
  110. Dorothee Fagard, Psychotherapist
  111. Dr Ben Jameson, I am a general practitioner, working with people who are homeless, including women and men who sell sex. I have witnessed the misery and consequences of the sex trade and support evidence based action to reduce harms to vulnerable people.
  112. Dr Darryl Mead, Chair of an organisation which works world-wide to raise awareness of the harms of pornography consumption
  113. Dr Gautamkumar Appa
  114. Dr Helen Mott, Consultant in the prevention of violence against women and girls
  115. Dr Jacci Stoyle, Member of the Scottish Parliamentary Cross Party Group for Commercial Sexual Exploitation
  116. Dr Jacqueline Granleese
  117. Dr Judith Dodds BM BScDFSRH, I work with women in the sex trade
  118. Dr Kate Coleman
  119. Dr Kathryn Cooper, Clinical psychologist
  120. Dr Lesley Semmens
  121. Dr Liz Garnett
  122. Dr Marit Gaimster
  123. Dr Nina Granberg, I was born and raised in Stockholm before the Swedish/Nordic model, and all of us young girls were constantly targeted by pimps and johns on the streets then. I’ve had countless friends and acquaintances suffering under sexual exploitation (pornography, strip clubs, sex lines and prostitution). I was an active member of women’s and girls’ shelters and support lines for 15 years. I’ve worked as a security officer for 14 years, having to handle all the dark sides of society and on the streets. Today I’m a medical doctor, and beginning from medical school in 2005, I’ve met many patients suffering from sexual exploitation.
  124. Dr Pam Cairns, Retired GP, Anti-human trafficking campaigner, Co Founder of The Free to Live Trust a charity working with children of prostitutes in India.
  125. Dr Paul Hewson, PhD in statistics, published in peer reviewed journals
  126. Dr Ruth Thomas
  127. Ann Rossiter
  128. E Blyth
  129. Elaine Wishart , Trauma counsellor
  130. Eleanor Canero, Midwife/ Health Visitor
  131. Elizabeth Gordon
  132. Elizabeth Matz, Retired sexual trauma psychotherapist
  133. Ellen Grogan, Registered General Nurse
  134. Emily Breen
  135. Emily Turvey, I was a sex worker. I was groomed into the industry and I found it hard to leave. I have been left with a lot of mental confusion as well as physical ailments because of this.
  136. Emma Dickson
  137. Emma Leckey
  138. Emma MacLeod
  139. Emma Robertson, Lecturer in FE
  140. Eurig Scandrett, Formerly worked in community project with dependent drug users, some of whom were prostituted women. Currently academic in sociology (in which I teach a module on gender justice and violence in conjunction with Scottish Women’s Aid). Trade union lay officer in University and College Union.
  141. Ezra Burnette, Work with women who have survived the sex industry
  142. Fafa Virn
  143. Fhiona Sinclair, Worked with women in street based prostitution
  144. Fiona Broadfoot, Sex trade survivor and front line service provider to women exiting
  145. Fiona Hawke
  146. Fiona Roberts
  147. Frances Davidson, Was a police officer for 30 years
  148. Francine Sporenda
  149. Gabriella Lee
  150. Geesmiek Geldof, Volunteer in a safe house for sex-trafficked women (City Hearts)
  151. Gemma Griffiths
  152. Gill Marchbank
  153. Gina McCaughan
  154. Gisele Lamarche
  155. Grainne Healy (Dr), Policy expert and researcher on trafficking and prostitution, former Chair of National Women’s Council of Ireland and former President of European Women’s Lobby on violence against women
  156. Hannah Bailey, Researched prostitution in a comparative study of the UK, Sweden and Netherlands. Started off thinking decriminalisation was the way, but completely changed my mind based on the evidence.
  157. Hannah Harrison
  158. Hayley Robinson, I’m a feminist who wants women and men to be viewed as equals in society. Women are not possessions to be bought.
  159. Hazel Turner-Lyons, I have worked with victims of child sexual exploitation
  160. Heather Russell
  161. Heather Rutherford
  162. Heather Wakefield, Ex-social worker and campaigner for women’s rights
  163. Heidi Proctor
  164. Heidi Worrall
  165. Helen Colledge
  166. Helen Fallows
  167. Helen Lipscomb
  168. Helen St Luce, Therapist working with (ex) prostituted women
  169. Helen Steel
  170. Hilary Thomas
  171. Inge Kleine, Member of Kofra, a feminist organisation in Munich, and co-founder of Abolition2014, an abolitionist initiative in Germany
  172. Isabel Kelly
  173. Ivietta Kamienieva
  174. J Anderson
  175. J Gourley
  176. J Tinsley
  177. Jackie Mearns, Community Worker
  178. Jacky Holyoake
  179. Jacqueline Moulson, I have worked as a Probation Officer with women working in the sex trade.
  180. Jalna Hanmer
  181. James Lyon, Various contacts with those familiar with some aspects of people involved in the sex trade, most significantly including women who are sex workers.
  182. Jan Goodyear
  183. Jan Oliver
  184. Jane Harris
  185. Jane Loe
  186. Janet Holden
  187. Janet Warren
  188. Janice Allen
  189. Janice Williams
  190. Jay Ginn, Sociologist
  191. Jean Fessey, Public Servant
  192. Jennie Hammond
  193. Jennifer Forsyth, Fellow of the British Psychological Society
  194. Jennifer Taylor
  195. Jenny Fortune
  196. Jessica Newbold
  197. Jill leigh, I have worked with many women in the sex trade
  198. Jill Nesbitt
  199. Jillian McCormick, Ex-social worker
  200. Jim Balfour, Mental Health Staff Nurse
  201. Jimin Nam
  202. Jinhee Park
  203. Joanna Campbell
  204. Joanne Snowden
  205. Johanna Slothouber Galbreath
  206. Johanna Wisbey
  207. Josephine Bartosch
  208. Joy Sturgess
  209. Joy Wood
  210. Jude Boyles
  211. Julia Aparisi Sevilla, Feminist psychologist
  212. Julia Hopten, English Teacher
  213. Julia Long, Dr
  214. Julia Marshall, Ex Police Officer
  215. Julie A Bell, Feminist campaigner
  216. Julie Campbell
  217. Julie Kavanagh
  218. Julie Timbrell
  219. Juliette vH
  220. Justin Ratliff
  221. Kara Newsome, I volunteer with women who have exited the sex trade.
  222. Karen Drake, Case worker
  223. Karen Martin
  224. Kate Challis
  225. Kate Hardman, Work with women in the sex trade
  226. Kate Morrissey, Counsellor and social worker
  227. Kate Stevenson
  228. Kathleen Richardson, Activist and academic
  229. Kathleen Webster
  230. Kathy Cohn
  231. Katie Cosgrove
  232. Katrina Glennie, I was a probation officer for 26 years and met women who had been charged and convicted of prostitution and women who were victims of abuse while selling sex. It is a heart-breaking and destructive way to earn money and has to stop. I support all of the views stated in this letter
  233. Kayleigh Clements
  234. Kelly Engstrom
  235. Kelly Ryan
  236. Kelly Wilkins
  237. Kevin Rielly
  238. Kiri Tunks
  239. Kirsten Ficklin, LPN, 13 years of work with sex workers
  240. Kylee Gregg, Survivor of child sex trafficking
  241. Kym Stallworthy
  242. Ladislava Zakladna, Survivor of prostitution
  243. Laila Namdarkhan RN ( retired) MA , 20 years’ experience as a Woman’s Advocate for Marginalised girls/women. Too many had been pimped from girl to adulthood. Pimped, owned and eventually broken, ending up in prisons and dumped as Mentally ill in long-stay secure forensic environments. Decriminalising the sex trade will legitimise such abuse and enable pimps/brothel owners to create demand that will abuse and destroy many more women/girls lives. Say NO to decriminalisation as a profession that cares and wants to support healthy women and girls. The Nordic Model protects women/girls rights, whereas decriminalisation puts their human rights at huge risk.
  244. Laura Briggs
  245. Laura Isabel Gómez García, Social worker
  246. Laura Jones, PhD researcher on prostitution
  247. Laura Martin
  248. Laurie Lyon
  249. Leah Marchbank, Support worker of women trying to exit prostitution
  250. Lee-Anne Menzies, Working with women who have been prostituted.
  251. Lesley Craig
  252. Lesley Or
  253. Lesley Page, Midwife
  254. Lesley Paterson
  255. Liz Elkind
  256. Liz Gerty, Senior safety manager – the safety risks in sex work are far greater than those permitted under HSAW Act 1974
  257. Liz Swanson, Trauma Psychotherapist
  258. Lorna Ward
  259. Louise Bond, Survivor of sexual exploitation
  260. Louise Cameron, Community Worker who has worked with survivors of the sex trade
  261. Lucy Smith
  262. Lucy Wainwright
  263. Lynda Haddock
  264. Lynda Murphy, Survivor
  265. Lynn Alderson
  266. Lynne Harne, I am an academic who has done research with women who were being supported to exit prostitution
  267. Madeleine Heitmann
  268. Magi Gibson
  269. Maire McCormack
  270. Manon Michaud, Survivor
  271. Marcia R. Lieberman
  272. Margaret Ann Cusack, Volunteer
  273. Margaret BH Paris
  274. Margaret Bremner, I worked as a nurse, as a counsellor in a women’s drug project, and as a volunteer in rape crisis. The Nordic model makes sense
  275. Margaret M Lennon
  276. Margaret Manning
  277. Margaret Young, Work for a women’s organisation which campaigns on women in the justice system.
  278. Maria Rossi
  279. Marion Harris, Ex nurse and midwife
  280. Marion Sporing
  281. Marlene Adam
  282. Marlyn Glen
  283. Mary Cameron, Retired social worker
  284. Mary Moore
  285. Mary Sharpe, I am CEO of a charity which campaigns world-wide to reduce the negative health impacts of excessive pornography viewing. Our one-day workshop on Pornography and Sexual Dysfunctions is accredited by the Royal College of General Practitioners.
  286. Mathylde Wojiek, Volunteer in an association which helps people in prostitution to gain more independence and to exit prostitution.
  287. Maura Wilson
  288. Maureen, I have worked with women in the sex trade on a voluntary basis. I grew up in an area which was a centre of street prostitution, and experienced sexual harassment from ‘punters’ as a child. I also saw the way women in the sex trade were abused by ‘punters’ and pimps.
  289. Maxine Johnson , Survivor
  290. Maya HUGUENIN
  291. Melinda Balatoni
  292. Michèle A. Hecht
  293. Michele Sedgwick
  294. Michelle Kerwin
  295. Michelle Laing
  296. Mitzi Stone
  297. Mónica Freitas
  298. Morag Carmichael
  299. Morgan King, Worked in Women’s Services with Prostituted Women
  300. Morven Magari
  301. Ms J Connelly
  302. Muriel Petit
  303. Myroslava Skorobagatko,
  304. Nancy Brown, Educator
  305. Naomi Self
  306. Natalie Cotterill
  307. Natascha Verbrakel, Survivor
  308. Neil Ayres
  309. Néli Busch
  310. Nicky Russell
  311. Olena Zaitseva, Lawyer with experience working with women in the sex trade in Ukraine
  312. Olga Semeniuk
  313. Olha Liber
  314. Olha Tveddokhlibova
  315. Oliver Bellamy
  316. Olivia Windridge
  317. Özlem Imil
  318. Pat Page
  319. Patricia Byrne, I have worked directly with prostituted women for several years and maintain an interest in their welfare
  320. Paula Woods, Sexual health nurse, Theatre nurse
  321. Pauline Taylor, Midwife
  322. Penny Adrian, A survivor and a peer volunteer with homeless prostituted women.
  323. Peter Willson
  324. Philippine Lelievre
  325. Prikhodko Ivan, I have had lots of conversations with prostituted women, and I think the Nordic Model is the best resolve of this problem.
  326. Professor Donna Dickenson, Former principal investigator of EC project comparing prostitution policies across Europe
  327. Professor Kirstein Rummery
  328. Professor Richard Byng, I work as a GP with individuals who have and do work in the sex trade as part of my clinical role in our primary care outreach team. I work as a Professor of Primary Care Research developing and evaluating interventions for those who are seldom heard.
  329. Prue Rundle
  330. Rachel King
  331. Rachel Martinelli
  332. Rachel McKeon
  333. Rachel Pickering
  334. Rachel White, MA in Women and Gender Studies, Warwick University
  335. Rae Evans
  336. Randene Hardy, I am a Canadian advocate, activist and lobbyist – to prevent sexual exploitation amongst our youth. Working to enforce the Nordic Model worldwide.
  337. Rebecca Abrams
  338. Rebecca Ashton, Mental health nurse
  339. Rebecca Harrison, MA DipSw
  340. Rebecca James, Adult nurse
  341. Rebecca Mitchell
  342. Rebecca Mordan
  343. Rebecca Mott, Survivor of prostitution
  344. Rebekah Mason
  345. Regina Rodriguez, Long-time activist for women’s rights
  346. Roger Fisken
  347. Rosemary Hunter, National committee member on national women’s organisation in Scotland campaigning for women’s rights
  348. Rosemary Snelgar
  349. Roswitha Reger, Former social worker with girls and young women who were sexually abused and in Munich shelter for girls
  350. Roxana Stuparu
  351. Rukshana Afia
  352. Ruth Greenberg
  353. Ruth Keszia Whiteside
  354. Ruth Pearson
  355. Ruth Swirsky, Did research on prostitution when I was an academic
  356. S A KEENAN
  357. S R Kalideen
  358. Sally Jackson
  359. Sally McDonagh
  360. Sam
  361. Sam Hutchinson, Mental Health worker
  362. Sandra McNeill
  363. Sara Stewart, Social worker, previously worked with prostituted women
  364. Sarah Bowden
  365. Sarah Cooksley
  366. Sarah Ferguson
  367. Sarah Gray
  368. Sarah Munson
  369. Sarah Smith
  370. Sarah Tolley
  371. Sarah Williams
  372. Shally Shefer
  373. Shannon Shoemaker
  374. Shauna Devlin
  375. Shawnee Love HHD, PhD
  376. Sheena Best
  377. Sheila Jeffreys, Retired Professor of Sexual Politics
  378. Shernaz Dinshaw, As someone who worked with an NGO that worked with prostitutes I looked at legalisation, decriminalisation intensely including where it had been legalised and came to the conclusion that decriminalisation needs to be applied ONLY to prostitutes and NOT to the industry (i.e pimps, brothel owners, clients etc). To decriminalise all is to legitimise violence against women and it has been seen that where legalisation and decriminalisation has been applied pimps and traffickers are able to continue with impunity in their oppression and violation of women and children. Be very clear in what you hope to achieve by wide-scale decriminalisation – it must not be done!
  379. Shirley Jones
  380. Shivali Fifield, I’ve worked with female rough sleepers and many women who have experienced multiple trauma, and have supported routes out of prostitution for 25 years.
  381. Shonagh Dillon
  382. Sibyl Grundberg
  383. Simon Aalders
  384. Simona Gasparini
  385. Siobhan Jess
  386. Sonja Hartmann
  387. Sophie Atherton
  388. Stefania Prigoda
  389. Stefanie Ettmann
  390. Stephanie Howarth, Social Worker
  391. Stephen Jordan, Social worker
  392. Steve Rawbone, Master’s degree dissertation on Human Trafficking for sexual exploitation in Europe.
  393. Sue Banting
  394. Sue Laughlin, Planner for women’s health services including for women involved in prostitution
  395. Sue Peters
  396. Susan Bewley, Obstetrician/Gynaecologist, Academic, Research into Violence against Women and Girls, Forensic Examiner work in Sexual Assault Referral Centres
  397. Susan Moffat, I worked for many years as a health promotion specialist for NHS Lothian and specialised in multiagency work addressing violence against women
  398. Susan Smyth, Canadian RN
  399. Suzanna Deutsch
  400. Suzanne Grace
  401. Suzanne Miller
  402. Suzzan Blac, Sex trafficking survivor and subsequently entered prostitution due to complex PTSD alcohol/drug use and poverty
  403. Sylvia Shek
  404. Tania Earnshaw, Trade union branch secretary Unison
  405. Teresa Rickard, Survivor
  406. Teri Andrade
  407. Thain Parnell, Anti-sex trade activist and writer
  408. The Reverend Claudia Neely, I have worked with survivors for forty years, and not one child ever chose trafficking. Adult women all began as children, forced into prostitution by family or supposed friends. We need to help women and children, and not throw them to traffickers.
  409. Trisha Baptie, Survivor of the sex trade and run an organization for women with histories in the sex trade who want to influence policy and law reform.
  410. Valerie Garwood
  411. Vanessa Martins do Monte
  412. Vicki Wharton, Survivor of sexist violence in the home
  413. Viktoriia Petruk
  414. Virginia Grinevitch, Secondary science teacher, human being revolted by the rape of (mostly) women) by (almost entirely) men for money.
  415. Walker Victoria
  416. Woody Caan, Researched drug use (and related harm) among sex workers in the past
  417. Yağmur
  418. Yannica Catarina Grunewald, Support Worker
  419. Yuliia
  420. Yvonne Roberts
  421. Zacky Bregovic, Survivor and now advocate
  422. Zoe Ruddock
  423. Zoryana Shypailo

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