{"id":1892,"date":"2015-05-18T11:40:33","date_gmt":"2015-05-18T11:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escort-scotland.com\/blog\/?p=1892"},"modified":"2015-05-18T11:40:33","modified_gmt":"2015-05-18T11:40:33","slug":"ni-a-time-for-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escort-scotland.com\/blog\/ni-a-time-for-change\/","title":{"rendered":"NI &#8211; A time for change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With the DUP once again sliding into a comfortable majority and the law to further criminalise sex work due on June 1st, there has never been a more pertinent time to look at sex workers\u2019 rights in Northern Ireland. <!--more--><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.escort-scotland.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/iStock_000018484733_Small.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.escort-scotland.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/iStock_000018484733_Small.jpg\" alt=\"Red umbrella in the crowd\" width=\"923\" height=\"520\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1899\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.escort-scotland.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/iStock_000018484733_Small.jpg 923w, https:\/\/www.escort-scotland.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/iStock_000018484733_Small-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.escort-scotland.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/iStock_000018484733_Small-768x433.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 923px) 100vw, 923px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t have rights, but that\u2019s about to change. As sex workers on the front line we know the damage that the forthcoming law will do. Sweden has the highest number of rapes in Europe, sex workers are being made homeless, assaults and other crimes against sex workers are at an all time high and the most vulnerable cannot be reached by support services for outreach and condom distribution. <strong>Were that to be any other group of people denied rights, there would be outrage. But because we sell sex, that somehow lowers us on the social strata and the stigma we feel in Northern Ireland is higher than anywhere else I\u2019ve ever worked in Europe.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We know that stigma kills, that\u2019s why there must be change, and quickly. At Sex Workers Alliance Ireland we look to the decriminalisation model of New Zealand as being as near to perfection as there is. Sex workers in New Zealand have labour rights and are permitted to work together for safety. <strong>In Northern Ireland, if two women work together in an apartment for safety, then potentially, they can be arrested for \u201cpimping\u201d from each other whilst still being deemed \u201cvulnerable victims\u201d by the State. Indeed, it is this nonsensical law which stops a lot of sex workers coming forward to report crimes against them.<\/strong> They believe that the PSNI will go on to target their homes, but with two new police liaison officers in place I am working at rebuilding a relationship built on trust between sex workers and police. After all, we are on the same page with a view on harm reduction.<\/p>\n<p>Why decriminalisation as opposed to legalisation ? <strong>The debate in Northern Ireland has been derailed constantly with referrals to Germany and Amsterdam where prostitution is legal. But that\u2019s not the model we\u2019re seeking<\/strong>, as there are problems in Germany for example with the announcement of possible forced STI testing and counselling too. It is up to each individual sex worker to devise their own care plan, State intervention denies us agency and treats us like cattle. It\u2019s also not helpful to refer to 127 deaths in Amsterdam when some of the women concerned weren\u2019t even sex workers and a sizeable proportion of the murders took place when the women were working alone and vulnerable, BEFORE legalisation came in.<\/p>\n<p>So what does decriminalisation do for one of society\u2019s most marginalised groups ? In our recent human rights policy paper, SWAI outlined the reasons.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 <strong>Respect for human rights and dignity<\/strong> \u2013 Reduces violent incidences and fear of violence \u2013 Increases sex workers\u2019 access to justice \u2013 Increases sex workers\u2019 access to services and supports \u2013 Promotes safer work conditions for sex workers \u2013 Reduces health risks including the risk of HIV \u2013 <strong>Challenges stigma and discrimination against sex workers<\/strong> \u2013 Does not increase the numbers involved in sex work \u2013 Facilitates more effective responses to trafficking and exploitation \u2013 <strong>Recognises the choices that many women, men and transgender people make and provides protections for rather than limitations to those choices.<\/strong> A recent report from Sweden shows that the number of purchasers of sex has not changed since the inception of the law. Ergo, the law has failed in it\u2019s initial attempt to \u201cend demand\u201d. I can\u2019t let Northern Ireland become a failure too.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, rights are not won in university or even television debates, nor on social media. Rights are won through the courts and that is why I will raise a challenge in the High Court in Belfast which may go all the way to Strasbourg. Sex workers deserve the right to work in safety and I will not let them down, unlike 81 politicians in Stormont.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the DUP once again sliding into a comfortable majority and the law to further criminalise sex work due on June 1st, there has never been a more pertinent time to look at sex workers\u2019 rights in Northern Ireland.<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[226,210,22,591,648,593,424],"class_list":["post-1892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-escort-articles","tag-escort","tag-escorting","tag-escorts","tag-laura-lee","tag-laura-lee-blog","tag-laura-lee-guest-blog","tag-sex-work"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NI - time for change | Laura Lee Guest Blog on Escort Scotland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Laura Lee&#039;s guest blog this week looks at what the laws could do to protect sex workers instead of putting them in danger.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.escort-scotland.com\/blog\/ni-a-time-for-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NI - time for change | Laura Lee Guest Blog on Escort Scotland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Laura Lee&#039;s guest blog this week looks at what the laws could do to protect sex workers instead of putting them in danger.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.escort-scotland.com\/blog\/ni-a-time-for-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Escort-Scotland Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-18T11:40:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.escort-scotland.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/iStock_000018484733_Small.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"923\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Lee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Lee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.escort-scotland.com\\\/blog\\\/ni-a-time-for-change\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.escort-scotland.com\\\/blog\\\/ni-a-time-for-change\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Laura Lee\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.escort-scotland.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2673bbb7496904086ca86becf8662455\"},\"headline\":\"NI &#8211; 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