Women First at Westminster
It was a real honour to represent the Women First team at the May All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG) on commercial sexual exploitation. The event was called, ‘A Way Out: How to ensure victims of commercial sexual exploitation can access support and exiting services’.
Giving compelling evidence from frontline services were Sarah Green (CEO Women at the Well), Linda Thompson (Women Support Project), Jodie Woodward (CEO Nia) and Kellie Ziemba (CEO Kairos). The secretariat is provided by UK Feminista.
I spoke about the availability of exiting support, or more accurately the lack thereof! In February this year, the Women First team undertook an FOI. We are still analysing the results (more info to come soon!), but what we do know is that less than 20% of local authority areas commission a service specifically for women involved in the sex trade. We have also found that even in areas that do have services, it is not always easy to find out what specific support is on offer for a woman who wishes to exit. We spoke about this issue today; could it be that professional anxiety about potentially imposing moral judgments upon women is preventing people from asking women whether they want help or support to leave prostitution?
When we spoke to survivors as part of our Women First interviews, they told us how important it is that women are asked about moving on from prostitution. We recognise that supporting a woman to move on is complex; there is no one-size-fits-all approach, and it is important that there is support across a range of needs: health, financial, housing, trauma. However, a fundamental starting point is actually asking a woman about moving on.
We hope that today’s APPG is the start of a wider conversation; one that will move beyond the comfort of Portcullis House and perhaps bring about more support for women involved in the sex trade.
If you want to know more about the work of Women First, please contact Hannah on womenfirst@filia.org.uk.
Hannah Shead
Women First Project Lead