Legalised brothels exploit prostitutes: Letter

Niki Adams Nina Lopez-Jones
Sunday 04 August 1996 23:02 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Sir: The calls for legalised brothels reflect increasing public concern with prostitute women's safety and civil rights. It may also reflect the Government's drive to cut the unemployment figures.

Legalised brothels usually go hand-in-hand with police crackdowns against street workers - the most vulnerable women whose protection the police have rarely prioritised. As with other workers, women without alternatives must accept the worst conditions from employers. Unless women are able to work collectively from their own premises without being subject to regulation, licensed establishments can impose conditions which are more exploitative than at present.

Where legalisation exists, it has further trapped women on the game and made it harder for women to keep their earnings, institutionalising state pimping. The prostitution stigma remains.

Most women prefer to break the law, and keep their earnings and independence - only an estimated 12 per cent of women work in Germany's legalised areas. Recently in Amsterdam sex workers threatened to go on strike over licensing proposals which discriminated against immigrant women.

Legalised brothels by themselves would protect neither safety nor civil rights. What is needed is for the exchange of sex for money between consenting individuals to be removed from the criminal law.

NIKI ADAMS

NINA LOPEZ-JONES

English Collective of Prostitutes

London NW6

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in