NOT A JOB LIKE ANY OTHER

Not a job like any other
10th March 2017

Note from the creator of the bench in response to the (below) article, "Bench commemorating British sex workers murdered or gone missing on display in Nottingham":

'I am very grateful to the Nottingham Women's Centre for displaying this bench created in memory of women in prostitution murdered by men.  

To be clear - I support the criminalisation of the buyers; pimps, traders and profiteers within the sex trade (this would include third party beneficiaries, such as any organisation that takes a stance supporting the sex trade which is seen to benefit from that decision).
I support fully funded, effective exit programmes for women within the sex trade.
I support the decriminalisation of the women within the sex trade
I support a world without patriarchy.

The five blank plaques will, I have no doubt, be filled in the coming months. It is time for the government to recognise prostitution as a form of violence against women and to legislate to end demand.'


Bench commemorating British sex workers murdered or gone missing on display in Nottingham
by Rachel Mlota

A bench commemorating hundreds of British sex workers who have been murdered or gone missing has come to Nottingham.

It is currently on display at the Nottingham Women’s Centre on Chaucer Street until the end of March as part of women’s history month.

Sian Steans, a trustee at the centre, said: “Their deaths were too soon and they need to be recognised, we remember the name of the murder but we don’t remember the woman he murdered.

“These are women, like any women that use our centre: mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, and they are a part of women’s history like the rest of us.

“Women who are at very high risk of male violence are women who are within the sex industry and this bench brings attention to this by highlighting and paying tributes to the women who have lost their lives to male violence while in the sex industry.

“Part of women’s history month is the joy of womanhood and celebrating sisterhood and community but it’s also working to challenge male violence.”

The centre’s partner charity, POW Nottingham Limited, work closely with sex workers offering an array of services such as sexual health services and drug treatment services.

Daniela Scotece, CEO of POW, said: “We want to make sure that the voices of the voiceless are heard and continue to be heard.”

POW recently published a book called ‘Hello I’m Here’ which expresses the experiences of Nottingham prostitutes and their accounts of male violence.

The original article and video clip can be seen on Notts TV HERE