Abstracts: June 2004
June 26, 2004
Danger
of kerb crawling
According to this article:
Karen, a 29 year old, drug addicted prostitute has been working for the last 10 years in Glasgow and Edinburgh. She earns (British pounds)150 for an hour and a half's work. Karen formerly worked in Edinburgh but moved to Glasgow when the tolerance zones ended.
The current law allows police to charge a prostitute with soliciting but only
charges a client with breach of the peace if they have a witness.
The Scottish Executive has made a commitment to outlaw kerb-crawling. Officers say
street prostitution can have an
enormous impact on local communities. Lothians MSP, Margo MacDonald, has tabled
a bill allowing tolerance zones for prostitutes working in Scotland. The
bill is not thought to be likely to become law. The Scottish Prostitutes
Education Project (ScotPep) believes outlawing kerb crawling will lead women to
take more risks.
Quote:
"We have had reports from sex work projects in England - where kerb crawling
legislation was introduced 10 years ago - that violence against women escalated
significantly and did nothing to reduce the nuisance of street prostitution."
"Because clients were being prosecuted they were not prepared to park up in red
light areas and negotiate. Instead, they'd drive up with the door open as they
were pulling up to the kerb and expecting the women to jump into the car."
"That meant the women didn't get the chance to carry out their risk assessment."
-Ruth Morgan Thomas
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