From Women's Weekly News:
Wembley: 17-year-old offered jobs in sex industry by Jobcentre Plus
A 17-year-old girl was offered three different vacancies in the sex industry when looking for work in her local Jobcentre Plus last week, despite claims from Jobcentre Plus and the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) that there are safeguards in place to protect under-18s from such positions.
The 17-year-old was “very distressed” after being shown vacancies for webcam strippers, strip-club hostesses and nude models by a job-search service in Wembley’s Jobcentre Plus, proving that the “effective safeguards” protecting under-18s and vulnerable women from positions in the sex industry, which are continually wheeled out by the Government and Jobcentre Plus, are anything but effective.
In addition to the existing safeguards, which include writing a line on the vacancy stating that the position is unsuitable for people under the age of 18, and discussing vacancies in the sex industry “only with people who enquire about them or have previously been employed within the industry”, former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Peter Hain announced in December that employers in the sex industry will have to sign a statement saying that the position does not involve any illegal sexual services and that Jobcentre Plus will call the employer 48 hours after the position has been filled to make sure that no “additional duties” have been added.
Several women’s organisations, including Eaves, have condemned the DWP for advertising vacancies for escorts, lapdancers and, most recently, webcam strippers, (see WWN 199) and call on the Government to stop advertising positions in the sex industry. Eaves’ chief executive Denise Marshall said: “Jobs in the sex industry are exploitative and damaging and it is unacceptable for a Government agency to be offering them. [It] is even more shocking that these vacancies are being offered to 17-year-olds. There is clearly no system for monitoring the age of jobseekers or for blocking vacancies in the sex industry to under-18s. Who knows how many other underage girls have been offered similar vacancies?”
If you would like to express your concern about these advertisements please write to Secretary of State for Work & Pensions James Purnell and MP for Brent North Barry Gardiner (details below). Please also email us at lilith @ eaveshousing.co.uk so that we can keep track of the complaints and campaign against these advertisements more effectively.
An additional article here:
wbtimes.co.uk/search/story.aspx?brand=WBCOnline&category=News&itemid=WeED20%20Mar%202008%2015:48:35:917&tBrand=WBCOnline&tCategory=search