Very important- Scotland's consultation/submission deadline 14th Dec!!

[Jack in the Box]

Please help in the fight against criminalising the clients of sex workers in Scotland

Ms. Rhoda Grant a Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland has proposed a bill which would criminalise the clients of sex workers.

Don’t let her get away abusing the rights of citizens and with making outrageous claims.

She says that all sex work is violence against women. This is nonsense. Most clients of sex workers have plenty of respect for women, which is a truth she doesn’t let get in the way of her story.

Also she is using trafficking as an excuse to criminalise people having consenting sex with an escort. This is yet another erroneous position as sex work and trafficking are two different things.

Her consultation can be found at the following website:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parlia...54314.aspx

Please also send copies of the submission to other MSP’s and parties plus send a submission to the clerk of the Justice Committee Mr. Peter McGrath.

justice.committee@scottish.parliament.uk

This is important to do as well as Ms. Grant certainly can’t be relied on to have the interests at heart of people in the right.

You do not have to use your real name and if you do all contact details can be asked to be kept anonymous. Your submission can be linked to details using a reference number if you want.

The disease of attempts to criminalise the clients of sex workers has to be tackled wherever it shows up.

You can send a large submission or small one. The important thing is that as many as possible make their voices heard.

Deadline: Friday 14th December 2012!

[Jack in the Box]

Please help in the fight against criminalising the clients of sex workers in Scotland

Ms. Rhoda Grant a Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland has proposed a bill which would criminalise the clients of sex workers.

Don’t let her get away abusing the rights of citizens and with making outrageous claims.

She says that all sex work is violence against women. This is nonsense. Most clients of sex workers have plenty of respect for women, which is a truth she doesn’t let get in the way of her story.

Also she is using trafficking as an excuse to criminalise people having consenting sex with an escort. This is yet another erroneous position as sex work and trafficking are two different things.

Her consultation can be found at the following website:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parlia...54314.aspx

Please also send copies of the submission to other MSP’s and parties plus send a submission to the clerk of the Justice Committee Mr. Peter McGrath.

justice.committee@scottish.parliament.uk

This is important to do as well as Ms. Grant certainly can’t be relied on to have the interests at heart of people in the right.

You do not have to use your real name and if you do all contact details can be asked to be kept anonymous. Your submission can be linked to details using a reference number if you want.

The disease of attempts to criminalise the clients of sex workers has to be tackled wherever it shows up.

You can send a large submission or small one. The important thing is that as many as possible make their voices heard.

Deadline: Friday 14th December 2012!

Here are some links to help with the submission:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/20...xaggerated

http://www.thelocal.no/page/view/rip-up-...L4wQORg-So

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug...rime-palme

http://www.thelocal.se/19102/20090427/#.UL4wfeRg-So

http://www.avoiceformen.com/feminism/gov...-feminism/

http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/research-unit...orkers.cfm

http://www.sexworkersallianceireland.org...tml#anchor

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinio...69164.html

http://www.salon.com/2012/11/28/study_po...t_damaged/

[x Connie x]

my rant has already been e-mailed to Ms Grant last month but thanks for the advice on sending other copies - will do.

[Simon]

Thanks Jack (rant submitted). Those links were interesting!

Another link that I spotted within that first Guardian article ("more on this story"):

Inquiry fails to find single trafficker who forced anybody into prostitution

[Jack in the Box]

Fair play to you Connie and Simon. As Connie said it was a close call the last time around. So everybody. GET THAT SUBMISSION IN.

Here is another link that can be used. It is one of my favourite:

www.bayswan.org/swed/swed_index.html

[Jack in the Box]

As Connie said in a similar thread you have the option of sending a template letter either. These can be found at the following link:

http://www.scot-pep.org.uk/having-voice/...rchase-sex

The important thing is that as many as possible get a submission in.

[Jack in the Box]

There is still time to get a submission in so please get typing!

[x Connie x]

bump

[Jack in the Box]

Don’t let Grant away with completely twisting the facts:

The following information from a sex worker organisation should be of some help:

Most sex workers start in the industry as children
http://www.women.it/cyberarchive/files/melrose.htm is Rhoda’s own source. However Professor Melrose’s research actually states (in this document):

‘The data on which I am drawing in this paper was generated by in-depth interviews with forty-six women, all of whom had become involved in prostitution before they were 18. At the time of the interviews, 32 were still involved in prostitution. Approximately three-quarters of those interviewed were street-working prostitutes.’

So – Prof Melrose only interviewed sex workers who had become involved before age 18. Around 75% were street sex workers.
However, Rhoda extrapolates this into: ‘For example 75% of women in prostitution in the UK became involved when they were children’ (p.6) – which is very different to the reports actual findings and a rather large leap!



Regarding the rape myths about men who purchase sex:
You might find this document useful from our own website – which is an academic challenge to ‘Challenging Men’s Demand’ and specifically critiques the reports assertions about men who purchase sex.
http://scot-pep.org.uk/sites/default/fil...otland.pdf

Page 3 particularly states:
‘misrepresentation and distortion of the report’s own findings. The report found that 22% made associations between sex workers and sexual violence, the majority of men interviewed did not make these links and did not hold the view that sex workers deserve sexual violence’

On trafficking / decriminalisation:
Re Rhoda’s footnote no.49 – Cho et al – she is in fact quite selective in the quotes she uses from the source document as the authors actually qualify their findings and place caveats on their own findings.
She does not include a link to the document itself but you can find it here:
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/geographyAndEnviro...EVISED.pdf
Their caveats include (page 10 under ‘conclusions’)
‘Our central finding, i.e., that countries with legalized prostitution experience a larger reported incidence of trafficking inflows, is therefore best regarded as being based on the most reliable existing data, but needs to be subjected to future scrutiny’

Furthermore, the authors also go on to caution against using their research to argue for criminalisation as that would miss the potential benefits of ‘legalisation’.”

[GeorgieLush]

ok can sum1 put this in simple terms for the blonde here...ive not heard about this think i live on another damn planet! x x