Green Party considers rethink on prostitution policy
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 4:19 pmhttp://www. morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/britain/Leader-calls-for-rethink-on-sex-work
Leader calls for rethink on sex work
Sunday 06 September 2009
by John Millington in Brighton
Green Party leader Caroline Lucas urged her party to re-examine its prostitution policy at a packed fringe meeting in Brighton at the weekend.
Ms Lucas was one of the panel speakers in a rigorous debate calling on party activists to move policy towards a Nordic model of criminalising punters and decriminalising prostitutes.
Currently, the Green Party argues for total decriminalisation of the sex industry similar to the model operating in New Zealand.
Ms Lucas insisted that the current policy was well meaning but, if implemented, would not lead to protecting women who were prostitutes.
Reading aloud a letter from Finn Mackay of the Feminist Coalition Against Prostitution (FCAP), Ms Lucas said: "How can the Green Party be against the worst aspects of capitalism and not be against this ultimate commodification of women?
"Poverty and patriarchy drive prostitution, not individual free choice."
Joining Ms Lucas, Sandrine Levesque from Object said that statistical analysis showed that a majority of women suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder similar to that of war veterans.
"But to quote a former prostitute, 'at least war veterans get understanding that they were in a war. What we do is just seen as a job'," Ms Levesque added.
She also said that class was at the centre of the debate, with the majority of prostitutes being from poor backgrounds and spending time in care.
But panellist Natalie Bennett from London questioned the veracity of Object's research methods, suggesting that decriminalising the whole industry would protect prostitutes best.
"Once it is decriminalised, like in New Zealand, the safety systems can be put in place by the women themselves to make their work safer," she argued, adding: "It is about free choice and we are a party of free choice."
The delegates were agreed that they had the same "end goal" - looking at the best interests of prostitutes - but were at odds over how to achieve this.
Feminist author and Green Party member Beatrix Campbell recalled her experiences in the women's movement, criticising the pro-decriminalisation English Collective of Prostitutes.
"I have interviewed many prostitutes and have not met one who felt it empowered them. They feel disg usting and they hate the men who use them," she said.
A straw poll at the end found that a majority wanted to change the current policy.
Leader calls for rethink on sex work
Sunday 06 September 2009
by John Millington in Brighton
Green Party leader Caroline Lucas urged her party to re-examine its prostitution policy at a packed fringe meeting in Brighton at the weekend.
Ms Lucas was one of the panel speakers in a rigorous debate calling on party activists to move policy towards a Nordic model of criminalising punters and decriminalising prostitutes.
Currently, the Green Party argues for total decriminalisation of the sex industry similar to the model operating in New Zealand.
Ms Lucas insisted that the current policy was well meaning but, if implemented, would not lead to protecting women who were prostitutes.
Reading aloud a letter from Finn Mackay of the Feminist Coalition Against Prostitution (FCAP), Ms Lucas said: "How can the Green Party be against the worst aspects of capitalism and not be against this ultimate commodification of women?
"Poverty and patriarchy drive prostitution, not individual free choice."
Joining Ms Lucas, Sandrine Levesque from Object said that statistical analysis showed that a majority of women suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder similar to that of war veterans.
"But to quote a former prostitute, 'at least war veterans get understanding that they were in a war. What we do is just seen as a job'," Ms Levesque added.
She also said that class was at the centre of the debate, with the majority of prostitutes being from poor backgrounds and spending time in care.
But panellist Natalie Bennett from London questioned the veracity of Object's research methods, suggesting that decriminalising the whole industry would protect prostitutes best.
"Once it is decriminalised, like in New Zealand, the safety systems can be put in place by the women themselves to make their work safer," she argued, adding: "It is about free choice and we are a party of free choice."
The delegates were agreed that they had the same "end goal" - looking at the best interests of prostitutes - but were at odds over how to achieve this.
Feminist author and Green Party member Beatrix Campbell recalled her experiences in the women's movement, criticising the pro-decriminalisation English Collective of Prostitutes.
"I have interviewed many prostitutes and have not met one who felt it empowered them. They feel disg usting and they hate the men who use them," she said.
A straw poll at the end found that a majority wanted to change the current policy.