Thanks, R0wantrees for reminding us of that incredible speech. It meant so much to all the women there, and all the women that have watched it, since!
I'm very happy to help, all thanks though are due to Cllr Sarah Fields.
Another of Cllr Sarah Fields' brilliant speeches here demonstrating her commitment to women and children in Leeds and beyond:
OP AverageAvenger wrote Wed 14-Nov-18
"You have an ally on Leeds City Council
When five prostituted women in Ipswich were murdered in 2006, what did Ipswich council do? It completely eradicated prostitution from its streets.
Ipswich did this through serious investment and multi-agency dedication to the Nordic Model.
I am calling on this council to learn from Ipswich.Visit them and work with them and their police force. I am calling for this council to abolish the shocking and scandalous “managed zone” and commit to the Nordic model, which seeks the following:
- The decriminalisation of those who areprostituted
- High-quality services and ring-fenced funding for those in prostitution
- Buying sex to be made a criminal offence
- Procuring, pimping and sex trafficking legislation to bestrengthened and the policing of these crimes to be fully resourced and prioritised
- A widespread holistic approach of public information campaigns, education programmes in schools and training for the police
Leeds has become a city where women cannot even meet to discuss changes to government legislation, but where men are openly raping women, soliciting for sex with children and offering to buy babies.
Our city has become a notorious illustration of misogyny and this scourge must be stopped immediately.
Our women deserve better, our children deserve better, our communities deserve better and the only way forward is to end this sanctioning of sexual violence that should be morally despised.
In memory of Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Annette Nichols, Paula Clennell and Daria Pionko."
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3424059-You-have-an-ally-on-Leeds-City-Council