THE SEXUAL FREEDOM COALITION

Ariana Chevalier, Sex Worker of the Year 2007 has approached her MP to discuss the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bil, which was rushed through the House of Commons and is now with the House of Lords.

This Bill sets out to criminalise people who hire sex workers, and people who download extreme pornography. Plus, more sex workers would end up in prison.

Ariana and I are particularly concerned with the rights of disabled people, who may have limited sexual opportunities and need sex workers and pornography for their mental health. We are planning a demo of disabled people chained to the railings near the House of Commons - and if you know anyone who wants to join in - please put them in touch.

Ariana's MP suggested that she encourage others to write to their MP, so that other MPs will stop these awful ideas becoming law.

You may have beeen seeing lots of negative stuff about sex work in the media. What is happening here is what happened in Sweden - fundamentalist feminist jargon is being taken as fact. The justification of criminalising clients of sex workers in the UK was based on Fiona Mactaggart saying, "25,000 trafficked women were doing sex work in this country". After searching for two years (Operation Parameter) the police only found 85 girls, and most of these knew why they were coming to this country. So this Bill is based on a lie. Beware - in Sweden they still don't even discuss the men who are denied sexual services (or go underground to find them) because it is not part of the feminist ethic. PLEASE HELP US STOP THAT HAPPENING HERE!

We encourage you to write to your MP. You can find your MP and their contact details by typing "Find your MP" into google.

MPs bin letters that are obvious copies of standard letters, so you need to personalise it with your own words and ideas. The disability argument is strong, as MP would not want to be seen to be denying disabled people of their rights. It's good if you add stories of your own.

Here is what you could be discussing:

Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill 2008

• Would restrict the civil liberties of people including disabled people, of enjoying the freedom to pay for sex and download extreme pornography.

• Clauses to Oppose:

New Clause 2 would bring the criminalisation of clients. It would also force street workers into isolated areas where they are more vulnerable to attack.

Clause 104 Widens the definition of persistent soliciting to 'two or more occasions in any period of three months' thus making street workers more liable to be arrested and imprisoned.

Clause 105 introduces compulsory rehabilitation for sex workers, requiring anyone arrested for loitering or soliciting to attend a series of three meetings with a supervisor approved by the court. Failure to comply will result in a summons back to court and a possible 72-hours imprisonment. Amendment 11 would delete this Clause.

Section 64 Would criminalise the downloading and possession of some images of BDSM sex (Bondage, Domination, Sadism & Masochism)

Clause to support:

New Clause 13 The decriminalisation of two sex workers and a maid working from the same premises, which is sensible and adds to their safety. Mind you, with no clients (because it would be against the law) all the three of them can do together is sit there polishing their nails!

Sending a letter to your MP could will make a difference to the lives of many people in this country. Otherwise people hiring sex workers and looking at extreme pornography will not only get arrested, fined and perhaps go to prison, they might also be put on the Sex Offences Register which would totally ruin their lives.

Those of you who cynically beleive that politicians just vote for what they are told from above, you may prefer to write to the House of Lords - but hurry! they are meeting again on 5th February. I am listing some sympathetic members of the House of Lords below. Alphabetic list with contacts easily found on google.

Should you think of other people who might be prepared to do this in other parts of the country, please spread the word.

Very best Wishes,

Tuppy

www,sfc.org.uk
www.prostitutescollective.net
www.petraostergren.com
www.backlash-uk.org.uk

SYMPATHETIC MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS
SUPPORTING EXTREME PORNOGRAPHY

Baroness Miller
Lord Tankerness
Lord Bragg
Andrew Mcintosh
David Puttnam
Lord Lester
Alf Dubs
Viscount Falkland 020 7219 3230
Clive Solely
Earl of Onslow 020 7219 5353
Lord Lloyd 020 7219 3169
Helena Kennedy QC 020 7219 5353
Geoffrey Dear deargj@parliament.uk

SUPPORTING SEX WORK

Lord Lucas
Bns Miller (Lib Dems)
Baroness Gould
Baroness Anita Gale
Baroness Betty Lockwood
Baroness Howells
Lord Falkner