New site and new blog !

Those of you who have this here blog bookmarked will need to know, I have a new website and my blog is now built in. My webmaster has only been asking me to do it for the last four years. Sorry Richard. Massive thanks to 69Design who have been my webmasters since 2006, crumbs.

My new web address is - laura-lee.com, with new pics for you to perve, sorry peruse.

See you there !

LL xx

Church leaders call for the Nordic model in Scotland. I think not.

Last week saw a calling for the implementation of the so called Nordic model by none other than church leaders.

As the sex workers' rights movement grows stronger across the UK, sex workers become incensed when others speak over our heads. It is condescending in the extreme to have so called "experts" tell us what is best for us. After all, we are experts on our own lives and industry, so we know that actually, decriminalisation of the archaic laws currently in existence would be ideal. This would allow us to work together for safety and reduce any harms associated, which should surely be the aim in dealing with any minority group under threat from would be attackers.

Whatever about the emergence of various "rescue" agencies purporting to be available to assist women in exiting (when actually, it's funding rather than exiting which lights their fires), what's more maddening is when the church becomes involved.

I'll say it boldly, when two consenting adults have sex behind closed doors, then whether any money changes hands or not, that is none of anyone else's business, least of all, the Church of Scotland. It would appear that the various church leaders have been hoodwinked by abolitionist groups with their hands out for government coffers, an all too common occurrence.

As a result, they have been led to believe that trafficking for the sex trade in Scotland is rife, out of control even. It isn't. Seventy per cent of sex workers in the UK at present are mothers, just feeding their children in a recession, and to take the very last hope those women have of survival away from them is just unforgivable.

Trafficking does not exist because of the sex industry, it is a separate entity and also serves the childcare, domestic servitude, restaurant and agricultural sectors to name but a few. It's worth noting that trafficking is already an offence, so shouldn't we be looking at our enforcement structures rather than further legislation? The World Health Organisation, UNAIDS, The Lancet and HIV Scotland have all come out in favour of decriminalisation as an effective method of harm reduction. Jean Urquhart MSP added her voice to the support for decriminalisation too, saying -

"Human trafficking is one of the most heinous crimes there is, and eradicating it will take a serious response, drawing on the best evidence. This effort to piggyback a knee-jerk, moralising reaction onto vital human trafficking legislation is deeply unhelpful.

"The ‘Swedish model’ that the churches call for in their letter cannot demonstrate any success at all in reducing trafficking. What it does do is put sex workers at greater risk of violence and sexually transmitted infections, which is why sex workers and international health organisations alike oppose it.

"What would absolutely help protect both sex workers and migrant workers from coercion and mistreatment would be measures to guarantee their labour rights. The better supported and organised both groups are, the safer they will be and the easier it will be to detect and prosecute crimes like trafficking."

In the end, all good laws must be based on evidence, evidence which is in abundance here. The ideological and misguided (to put it kindly) stance of the church leaders must be ignored.

Sex Workers Alliance Ireland - Paper launch

Sex Workers Alliance Ireland invites you to:

The launch of, ‘Realising Sex Workers’ Rights in Ireland’, a briefing paper exploring a human rights based approach to supporting people engaged in sex work.

When: 1PM – 2PM, Wednesday 4th February 2015

Where: The Pressroom, Buswells Hotel, 27 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2

Speakers - Kate McGrew - Sex Worker and Activist

Wendy Lyon - Solicitor and Blogger (feministire.com)

Billie - Community Support Project Worker GOSHH (Gender Orientation Sexual Health HIV) Limerick

For more information please contact swaiireland@yahoo.com

We look forward to seeing you next Wednesday.

Warm Regards,

SWAI Team

Farewell, my feline friend.

This week's blog was intended to be a less than gentle poke at Turn Off the Red Light, or Turn Off the Altar Light as they've become known in better circles. Unfortunately, circumstances have dictated otherwise.

My regular readers will know of my love for Boy Cat, who chose me at the cat rescue centre. For those who didn't read back that far, he was the runt of a litter comprised of himself and three big ginger bruisers, and he chose me, there's no doubt about that. When the centre manager opened the door he came straight to me and I knew he was my boy. We bonded from the offset and I cheered him on as the underdog.

It's safe to say we had our trials and tribulations over the years, I had him for eight years and we went through three house moves, his being locked in a church for five days and then getting a belt of a car/ned and under going emergency surgery to repair a ruptured bladder. I hit the knees that night, and no mistake. I prayed, and he came home, skinny and weak, but home.

Thereafter, he developed a habit of doing a disappearing act, from my new property. In the beginning, it was for two days max, and he would stroll in, so I was of the opinion that he had a second home where he was meowing loudly at the back door, not unusual for Tom cats. In the run up to Christmas, he did a bunk again, but this was long term. I knew something was wrong, but I really didn't know what to do. I spoke to all of my neighbours and asked people to keep an eye out for him. He had gone missing with a beautiful black sparkly collar and spotted bow tie, so I felt that at least he would be instantly recognisable.

Come the new year, there was still no sign of him and I knew something was badly amiss. I contacted a local cat rescue project to find that a black and white cat had indeed been found in an awful state and brought in by the SSPCA, to an emergency vets. I'm going to spare you a lot of the gory details, he suffered a terrible death. What I can tell you, is that he got his front paw stuck underneath his collar and as a result basically starved. The SSPCA battled through the night to save him, but he was so badly injured that it was decided it was better to put him to sleep.

I went to identify him on Friday, an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies. It was very difficult, he had horrific injuries. But at least he looked at peace and I got to say goodbye. I will always miss him, he was my friend and comfort, and I know he loved me with ferocity too. I'm okay that he died, he's at peace. I can't bear that he suffered, he must have been so frightened.

The reason I shared this is not to evoke sympathy, it's to implore you - if you have a cat and they go outdoors, please DO NOT put a collar on them. Even the collars with a so called emergency release, useless. By all means, microchip them but collars? NEVER.

A very heartbroken,

LL xx

P.S : Note to abolitionists - please do not take a period of grieving as an opportunity to try it on, I'll still nail you to the wall. Twice.

Choice or not ? Academic request for input from sex workers.

In the debate about sex work, people constantly bring up the question whether or not someone can ‘choose’ to do sex work. Radical feminists and other abolitionists argue that no one would ever choose to sell sexual services; and that people (or rather: women, as abolitionists tend to ignore male and transgender sex workers) are ‘forced’ to sell sex because of whatever their life circumstances are. The opposing view would be to say that it is (usually) sex workers’ ‘free/rational choice’ to engage in sex work.

I would like to pose the following question to escorts/sex workers:

Do you feel that becoming an escort was a ‘choice’ you made? Why/why not? Were there alternatives, and if so, what kinds of alternatives? If you feel that it was a choice, what led you to make this decision? If you felt that it wasn’t really a choice, what was it that led you to sell sex in the first place?

And I would also like to ask: do you feel that other people (family members etc.) who are not sex workers had more (or less) of a choice regarding how to make a living and feel less ‘forced’ (or more forced!) to do what they are doing?

A bit about me: I am a researcher and supporter of sex worker rights (and opponent of the criminalisation of clients). You may have read about the piece of research we did in 2014 – the study on sex work funded by the Northern Irish Department of Justice (which, by the way, is available here.

I am currently writing a critical academic article about the idea of ‘choice’ in relation to sex work and would like to include the views of sex workers (and clients, if they want to comment) in the article. As always, I will not use people’s names or aliases nor will I include any information that allows readers to identify the people cited. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions: susann.huschke@gmail.com