Vigil Against Violence Towards Sex Workers

On Friday 17th December 2010 a group of sex workers from various locations around West Yorkshire and the UK were joined by local campaign supporters to hold a vigil as part of a global event to mark the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

The group, carrying red umbrellas to mark their support for the campaign, handed out leaflets and chatted to late night shoppers, early revellers and passers by in the area around Ivegate, Bradford.

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The International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers was originally started as a memorial and vigil to the victims of the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway, who murdered more than 90 women (many of them sex workers) in the US state of Washington during the 1980's and 1990's.

The idea for the vigil was initially conceived by Dr. Annie Sprinkle and the first event was organised by the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA in 2003. The memorial has been steadily growing into a global movement and this year vigils were held across Europe, the USA, Canada, Hong Kong and Kenya.

The Bradford vigil was one of three across the UK, the other two being held in London. A group of around 6 supporters lit candles on a wall and handed out leaflets to passers by. The red umbrellas they were carrying are a symbol of solidarity with sex workers around the globe who routinely face violence, rape and exploitation at the hands of others.

Conviction rates for crimes such as these are very low in most parts of the country. This is in part due to the difficulty in reporting these crimes in the first place since most activity surrounding prostitution is criminalised under UK law. This means that many incidents of violence and rape go unreported for fear of the victim being targeted by the police instead.

Of those that are reported, conviction rates are very low, most likely due to the low regard in which workers in this industry are held by both the police and large sections of the public and mainstream media. The apathy towards the victims of Peter Sutcliffe, and more recently the tragedy surrounding the murders of Susan Rushworth, Shelley Armitage and Suzanne Blamires, who were murdered in the Bradford area in the summer of 2010, is evident in the many articles and news reports available from the time of the incidents. Many of the victims were targeted on account of them being sex workers, therefore making them vulnerable to these violent attacks.

The campaigners holding the vigil were specifically calling for a general adoption of a policing policy trialled in Liverpool which saw violence against sex workers classified as a hate crime. This policy led to an increase in both detection and conviction rates for such crimes, and has contributed to a safer environment for women working in the city. Further calls were made for the decriminalisation of prostitution, as has proved to be successful in improving conditions for sex workers in other parts of the world including New Zealand and some states in the USA.

For further information on the Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, and to find out how you can get involved in the campaign, their website can be found here.

Attached Files

Interview with the campaigners

Contact email: imc-northern@lists.indymedia.org