A groundbreaking legal challenge is being filed in the UK by a group of ex- prostitutes who are arguing that the government’s current policy criminalises victims of abuse and trafficking.
According to the women, they have been stigmatised by the existing law, under which people convicted of all crimes are required to disclose their past when they apply to jobs or even for volunteering during DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks.
Harriet Wistrich, the women’s solicitor said that it was the first time that the system of recording and disclosing convictions was being challenged on the grounds of gender discrimination.
Law Discriminatory And Breaches Privacy
The women contend that it is unlawful for recording and disclosing criminal convictions for soliciting offences, arguing that it is discriminatory and also breaches their right to a private life.
Appearing before Lord Justice Holroyde and Mrs Justice Davies, Karon Monaghan QC, the women’s barrister, submitted that they had been “groomed years ago when they were young and vulnerable.” Two of the petitioners were in fact groomed while they were in local authority care.
The lawyer noted that their experiences were “extremely distressing” and they were able to exit prostitution only through “considerable effort and fortitude”.
Women Not Perpetrators But Victims Of Abuse
According to the lawyers representing the women, they are victims of trafficking, and having to disclose past convictions was at odds with government anti-trafficking policy.
Wistrich noted that such a legal requirement was “out of sync” with current acknowledgement that “women are often victims of abuse rather than perpetrators of crime.” She added that the women had left prostitution several years ago but “continue to be blighted” due to the law.
Wistrich highlighted that women leaving street prostitution may be likely to have as much as 100 convictions, which results in several pages of convictions to be filed during background checks.
While in some cases, criminal convictions can be wiped out after a certain period of time, in case of repeat convictions or for some jobs, convictions have to be revealed regardless of long ago they happened.
Heather Harvey, from anti-violence against women charity Nia, which is supporting the women, noted that people “misunderstand prostitution” as a sex offence, and treat the women as “sex offenders”.
Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality party, emphasised that as per available evidence, having a criminal record is seen to be “one of the main barriers” for women leaving prostitution.
Humiliating Experience To Reveal Convictions
A case in point is Fiona Broadfoot who is now 49. At 15 years of age, she met a pimp who groomed her and put her on the job. She was just a little over age 16 when she was first arrested.
She noted that while “the police criminalised me” and her pimp walked free.
She was later put in juvenile detention for three months, but thought too old for schooling. In the next 11 years she ended up with nearly 50 convictions, which occupy eight double-sided pages.
Desiring to leave prostitution, she began a childcare course. But at the time of her job placement her past had to be revealed which resulted in her being “frogmarched” off the school’s premises, according to her. Recently, she wanted to set up a social enterprise, but in the process she had had to explain her criminal record to two male members of a council, an experience she calls “humiliating” .
Now an activist, Broadfoot supports the implementation of the Nordic system, where purchasers of sex are criminalized and not the victims.
