Soho sex workers protest against forced evictions in London Pornrevolution.net • View topic - Soho sex workers protest against forced evictions in London

Soho sex workers protest against forced evictions in London

We are building a large collection of sex-related stuff. Anyone can have us publish their stuff, for free

Soho sex workers protest against forced evictions in London

Postby admin_pornrev » Sun Feb 01, 2015 9:47 am

Ed's note: The illuminati is shutting down all of the sex and fun in the entire world.

Soho sex workers protest against forced evictions in London red light district

FROM: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013 ... t-eviction

Demonstrators gather outside office of one of the main property owners in the area calling for them to stand up to the police
• The Guardian, Thursday 10 October 2013 05.32 AEST


Link to video: Soho sex workers protest against evictions => http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013 ... t-eviction

A new crackdown on sex workers in London's historic red light district risks putting women in danger and changing the character of Soho, sex workers and activists said on Wednesday.
Sex workers from three flats in Soho were evicted late on Tuesday after police issued enforcement notices on landlords warning they could be prosecuted if they were found to be allowing "immoral activities".

Scotland Yard said police were working with Westminster council to tackle "all crime" in Soho.

On Wednesday sex workers and activists – some wearing sequinned masks and holding banners with slogans such as "I'd rather sell my body in Soho than sell my mind to a corporation" – gathered outside the offices of Soho Estates, one of the main property owners in the area , and called for them to "stand up" to police.

"Soho has always been one of the safest places in the country for women to work – it is transparent, well established and there has always been the support of the community," said Niki Adams from the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), who organised the protest. In the 19 "walk up" flats operating in Soho – where clients can come in off the street – women worked on their own, but were accompanied by a "maid" who helped with cleaning and also provided sex workers with more security in return for tips, she said. "If this continues I fear more women will choose to work on their own or on the street which will put them in much more danger." The actor Rupert Everett, who is making a documentary on prostitution, attended the protest, the ECP said.

In a statement Scotland Yard said police were working with the council to tackle crime which "includes using a range of tactics to tackle historic crime problems, but also ensures sex workers who are vulnerable or need assistance receive it and can access support networks and services". It went on: "Properties being used as a brothel do break the law and police will take action where appropriate, as we have done over a number of years."

Sex workers protest in Soho.png
Sex workers protest in Soho.png (321.72 KiB) Viewed 4864 times

A protest in Soho by sex workers and representatives from the English Collective of Prostitutes. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

It is not illegal to sell sex in Britain, but activities associated with prostitution – such as operating a brothel, soliciting and kerb-crawling – are outlawed. The ECP argue that by putting pressure on landlords to evict tenants, police are bypassing the need to prove that the flats are being used by more than one sex worker, and therefore operating as a brothel. Previous attempts by police to use brothel closure orders to close flats have been unsuccessful.

Paula, a 21-year-old Romanian sex worker who had worked in several different flats in Soho since she was a teenager, said police attitude towards sex workers in Soho had changed hugely in the past 12 months. "[Police] start raiding, saying lies, accusing us of things we don't do and then giving us a letter saying we are going to be deported or the flat is going to be shut down," she said. She said she had been attacked by punters in the past, but having a maid made her feel safer. "Sometimes [clients] can look very nice, very polite and very gentlemanly but if you say a wrong word it can turn out really badly," she said. "It happened to me about two times, everything was nice and I end up with a punch in my face for no reason. You need to be very careful who you let in, that's why it's very important to have a maid. If you scream she is the first one to walk into the bedroom and save you."

The raids had made her less likely to report violence to police, she added. "Most of the time when we call them and we've got trouble, they let the bad guys walk away and accuse us of prostitution."

A 52-year-old maid from the evicted flat in Romily street, who herself worked as a sex worker before becoming a maid, said: "The police have completely changed, they've dragged customers naked out of bed, searched the flat – the girls are scared, they are not criminals. As far as I have understood one girl and one maid is not illegal, it's not a brothel."

John James, the managing director of Soho Estates faced the loud-hailer wielding women outside the firm's offices, assuring them that he "had no problem with this type of work" but had no choice but to inform the leaseholder of the flats that they could lose their lease if they were to allow "immoral activities", after Soho Estates was issued with an enforcement notice by police.

"I have no angst with these girls, I was surprised last week by an enforcement notice from the police and we have to take that seriously," he told the Guardian. Asked what he thought of the police action he said: "I don't understand it, I really don't – it is part of Soho. Police are putting us in the firing line and turning us into the villains."

Members of the local Soho Society said the character of Soho was under threat from developers and risked becoming homogenous. A new Soho Estates development, Walker's Court, will see the company open offices, a restaurant and caberet theatre – it will also mean the closure of several more "walk-up" flats and a sex shop. "They are chipping away at Soho, there is a community here and these women are part of it," said member Juliet Peston.

James said as a major landowner in Soho the company had a right to redevelop its property. "That will unfortunately mean some of the closure of the occupiers, but that is what development means," he said. "We believe it is to the benefit of the area – it's too short-sighted to say that any change is bad."


• Hatetories
10 October 2013 8:19am
Recommend
5
will there be any difference between the ladies and males who desire to sell what they have and Westminster Council whose only aim is to sell off Soho property to extreme right wing people who want to build and then charge the earth for the properties.
o Report
o Share this comment on Twitter
o Share this comment on Facebook

theguntz
10 October 2013 8:41am
Recommend
0
The freebee publication - out every Friday - WEST END EXTRA - may be quite interesting in reporting this situation. Copies are freely available at WEST END CENTRAL REFERENCE LIBRARY in ST MARTINS LANE off of LEICESTER SQUARE - or online. This GUARDIAN report is interesting altho some curious footage which seems to focus on women having a quite ordinary smoke and on their footwear - for what purpose? .... footage just seems to me odd. Anyway its helpfull that THE GUARDIAN has covered this controversy.
o Report
o Share this comment on Twitter
o Share this comment on Facebook

KuchenCake
10 October 2013 8:43am
Recommend
4
Before someone pitches up here and says that punters are obviously abusive, please remember that you don't have to be a prostitute to be beaten, raped or groped
o Report
o Share this comment on Twitter
o Share this comment on Facebook

siff
10 October 2013 8:49am
Recommend
6
''warning they could be prosecuted if they were found to be allowing "immoral activities".
Have the police nothing better to do than introduce moral surveillance ? Is being 'immoral' by some one or others definition, a crime ?
i wonder which swivel eyed loon is behind this .
o Report
o Share this comment on Twitter
o Share this comment on Facebook

Coyle
10 October 2013 8:52am
Recommend
1
Because the police stood up for them on many occasion!
o Report
o Share this comment on Twitter
o Share this comment on Facebook

theguntz
10 October 2013 8:56am
Recommend
2
I would like to add to my previous comment. This Guardian report is worthwhile. However 2 oor 3 years ago police raided Soho premises just of Greek Street in larger numbers of officers than they needed probably for media hype and when the case came to Court the MAGISTRATE threw the accusations out and a local Priest had given evidence stating from his local knowledge alleged disorder etc etc had not been in evidence.
o Report
o Share this comment on Twitter
o Share this comment on Facebook
• 2 people, 2 comments

PaulBowen
10 October 2013 8:56am
Recommend
2
Dot love, that mask's not fooling anyone.
o Report
o Share this comment on Twitter
o Share this comment on Facebook
o
jorob PaulBowen
10 October 2013 9:07am
Recommend
0
Hi Paul
Brilliant!! One of the best cracks ever!
Incidentally, I saw it was Dot straight away, ; )
Seriously, I feel sorry for the girls.
 Report
 Share this comment on Twitter
 Share this comment on Facebook

etrusiauk
10 October 2013 9:00am
Recommend
4
Opinions on the morality of sex workers aside, isn't this a blatant case of the police working on behalf of the property developers?
James is saying he is only evicting the women because of a police enforcement notice but in reality he is looking to develop the land....
o Report
o Share this comment on Twitter
o Share this comment on Facebook

ourgaff
10 October 2013 9:14am
Recommend
1
onwards marches the gentrification of London.
o Report
o Share this comment on Twitter
o Share this comment on Facebook

solomongursky
10 October 2013 9:24am
Recommend
0
I think about two thirds of Soho is owned by Paul Raymond's grand daughter, she has a habit of burning fifty pound notes and sneering at the "little people" she gazes at from her Soho rooftop. Raymond bought loads of freeholds back in the seventies.
Soho's one of the last places in London with character, it should be preserved and pedestrianised
o Report
o Share this comment on Twitter
o Share this comment on Facebook

OFFMYBACK
10 October 2013 9:34am
Recommend
0
Pro protesters.
o Report
o Share this comment on Twitter
o Share this comment on Facebook
Open for comments. Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion.


Related information
UK news
• Crime

• London

• Police

Business
• Real estate

Law
Society
• Prostitution


Soho sex workers protest against evictions – video
10 Oct 2013
Sex worker and two 'maids' explain how the crackdown will make their job more dangerous
• 6 Oct 2013
Theresa May rejects 'scaremongering' Romanian crime wave claims
• 3 Oct 2013
Where should London's cops live?
• 2 Oct 2013
Bank of England warns borrowers and lenders not to overstretch themselves

Badger cull police officer reads NFU injunction warning to protesters – video
1 Oct 2013
A police officer in Somerset issues a warning of an NFU civil legal injunction to badger cull protesters
• License/buy our content
|
• Privacy policy
|
• Terms & conditions
|
• Advertising guide
|
• Accessibility
|
• A-Z index
|
• Inside the Guardian blog
|
• About us
|
• Work for us
|
• Join our dating site today
• © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
admin_pornrev
Site Admin
 
Posts: 832
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 4:35 pm

Return to General Discussions

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 61 guests

cron