Sex Workers in Prison

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Sex Workers in Prison LOUISE CLARK UK
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• Current Prostitution Policy Law
• Legal to sell sex
• BUT loitering/soliciting is illegal!
• 2004 Paying The Price Consultation
• 2006 Co-ordinated Prostitution Policy
• 2009 Policing Crime Bill

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Women in Prison

• June 2009 4,269 (60 increase in last 10 years )?
• Over 3rd no previous convictions
• 20 on remand 68 non violent offences
• In 2007 majority serving custodial sentence for
  shoplifting
• 28 finance motivated
• 70 less than 6 months, average stay 28 days,
  revolving door
• 78 psychological disturbance self harm high
• 58 took drugs daily in last 6 months prior to
  custody
• 37 attempted suicide in life
• Over representation of those from care system, DV
  abuse, family problems, BME

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• Griffins Society Research Fellowship
• Provision of Support for Imprisoned Adult Female
  Street Sex Workers (2006)?
• One year qualitative study
• To ascertain
• What specialist services existed for sex workers
  in prison
• How services accessed and delivered
• Awareness amongst prison based staff of the needs
  of sex workers in their care
• What prison-based strategies existed for
  supporting the needs of sex workers in their care

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• Sex workers in prison
• Prison staff
• Project staff
• Sex workers in the community
• Academics and campaigners
• Questionnaires Interviews
• 14 women's prisons across England, 50 response
• 30 staff, 11 sex workers

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Research Findings

• Law
• Physical mental well-being support provision
• Knowledge of services by staff women
• Formal links
• Access to Services
• Attitudes/response to disclosure
• Staff training
• Needs Trauma Risk
• Policy
• Funding

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Recommendations Develop awareness and knowledge
base of prison staff and challenge
stereotypical/discriminatory views of sex workers
in prison make links with local sex work
projects
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Projects Anawim (Birmingham) Armistead
(Liverpool) Lighthouse Project (Liverpool)
MASH (Manchester) New Horizon Youth Centre
(London) One25 (Bristol)? Open Doors
(London)? Routes Out (Liverpool)? Womens Work
(Derby)
Who was trained? 18 month pilot 32 Prison
staff trained to be Trainers 15 Project
staff trained to be Trainers (9
projects)? 35 Training sessions 292 Staff
trained
HMP Drake Hall Eastwood Park Foston
Hall Holloway Styal
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• Issues covered (Focus on street work)?
• Current government policy
• Law and sex work
• What is sex work
• Who are sex workers
• Drugs, health and sex work
• Safer working techniques
• Desistance and Harm Minimisation
• Responding to disclosure
• Good practice when supporting women

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Findings of SWIP Project Evaluation

• Pre Post training questionnaire
• 16 questions using Likert scale or preference
  statements

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Evaluation Raising Awareness Increase in
support for decriminlisati of the owmen Increase
in identifying women as other then
victim Clients Employed White collar,
decrease in motivations of higher male sex drive
promiscuity. Colleagues as purchasers 10-30
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• Evaluation
• Support Needs
• Broaden awareness post training beyond sex work
  to include accommodation and children
• Disclosure
• More confident to identify strategies
  pathways
• accessing safer working info, provision of
  support
• Partnerships

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• Evaluation
• Over all
• 89 More confident
• 77 Identified own attitudes
• 50 Greatly increased knowledge on desistance,
  harm
• minimisation, support needs support services
•  

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Recommendations All Pathways Extend Partnership
Work Court Diversion, Working with Partners of
SW, Indoor Working, Transgender Workers,
Trafficked Workers, Migrant Workers,
Schools Wider Training Audience Health,
Probation (PSRs), Police, DWP Pathway 9
Champion Safer Working Ham Minimisation (Ugly
Mugs) Updating Knowledge Base on Law
Policy UKNSWP Toolkit Sexual Well-being Support
for Women in Prison Advice/Release Kits Talk to
the women and specialist organisations, service
design, forums, evaluation, community links
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Future of SWIP

• Rolling out to remaining 10 prisons in England
• Delivered as part of national training
• Delivered by 2 staff

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More Info

• www.thegriffinssociety.org
• Prison Reform Trust Bromley Briefings
• UKNSWP
• IUSW

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louise_at_redbear.org.uk 00 44 7984 629
985 www.redbear.org.uk
Providing research, training and policy
development for criminal justice and voluntary
sector organisations