Police "naming and shaming" sex workers

[DorotheaPlenticlew]

I'm sorry to post and run, but I'm going to have to. Would very much like to find out what others think of this, though. To me, it seems very misguided.

link to the Guardian

Being a sex worker is not illegal! Publishing their personal details may put them in danger. They should concentrate on protecting them. I sense a letter to the IPCC coming on

Well, yes. I just don't get what the supposed reasoning is behind it (I did read the article very very fast, may have missed something). I mean ... how is it that they think it's a good or useful idea in any form?

(have to run away properly now)

Well, if they're going to do that, should they not also be publishing the names, dob and photos of those people who use (employ?) sex workers?

Bloody hell.

Yes, I read this and wondered why aren't they naming and shaming 'punters'?

the people who should be shamed are the men who use and abuse women who are usually desperate. This makes me sick, actually.

Prostitution is not illegal. However, misusing someone's personal data is a problem. Wonder if the infomration commissioner would be interested. Off to have a look at his website...

Yes they ought to sue under Data Protection

I don't understand what the police hope to gain by this?

i think there is a lot more to this than meets the eye. The comments and things don't add up.

On the one hand they say the women haven't been charged with anything, on the other hand it says they have asbos.

The suggestion that the police have been watching too much secret diary of a call girl doesn't make any sense

The idea that this would be part of a pre-olympics clean up doesn't make sense either.

The whole thing doesn't make sense.

I read the article they refer to in the News of the world last week. It was about city business men who were caught at a 'brothll' and the NOTW also published pictures of the men involved but with faces obscured. Were these also on the Police site?

The woman are unlikely to sue - easy targets.

This is utterly outrageous.

How can the society that peddles the myth of the 'happy hooker' reconcile itself with this 'naming and shaming' crap at the same time.

Surely 'tis one of the other - either prostitution is just fine and dandy and empowering and the women 'choose' to do it and there is nothing wrong with it. Or there is a problem with prostitution and therefore there is an element of shame and stigma.

Can't have it both ways. Double flipping standards or what?

Outrageous that the stigma is being pinned on the women and not the pimps and the punters.

Does anyone know what the police hope to gain from this though?

it seems to me as if they have a website which pubishes teh details of those with asbos. is that the gist?

it's all

I don't get it. Is someone just trying to encourage violence against these women? Is it a pilot to see if anyone notices, before bringing back the stocks?

What the fucking fuck are the police doing selling photographs to a tabloid newspaper???

If the police want to publish photographs of people then they need to publish them themselves- oh, but they probably can't because that would be utterly wrong

They have endangered these women. Not to mention any children they may have.

Ignore my post. Missed the met website bit.

Vile.

This seems to fit with the naming and shamimg policy of ASBOs
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/5181032.stm

Makes you think of Big Brother or the Stasi.

"Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, said: "I suspect this is part of a pre-Olympics clean-up in east London."

I think there may be something in this. Bigwigs often do things like this before the arrival of bigwigs from foreign countries. Often homeless people are taken off the streets before visitors arrive. It is done to present a good image, and allow them to carry on lecturing other countries without being asked awkward questions about what is happening in their own backyards.

I don't know if the telephone boxes in London have been cleared of the escort adverts. If not, I expect that it will be done before the foreign bigwigs arrive, or some of the claims about women's rights will begin to look hollow.

Yes and don't forget all the pre-World Cup "be careful and don't get AIDS when you pay to rape South African women!" publicity.

I wonder if they post photos of homeless people up on a website/in the papers as an example, claig? If not, what is different here?

yes and MPs and even a former DPP paid for prostitution.

The good news is that the coalition are scrapping ASBOs, so a website with photos etc. may be a thing of the past. This policy was started in 2009 under the socialists, so it may just be a remnant of their regime.

It seems that posting photos of sex workers is relatively rare, which is why the Guardian is reporting it. It looks like it was a specific policy started in London in 2009. They have been publishing pictures and distributing leaflets about people on ASBOs for a long while, but most people did not see the Big Brother style harm that this could do. I hope that all of these Big Brother policies will end now that Labour have been removed and people's privacy and civil liberties will be respected under the new coalition.

Bloody hell, claig, you're more optimistic than I am!

Surely the point about distributing info about people with ASBOs (wrong as it was) was to warn about people who were a menace to the public? But prostitutes don't hurt people or make their lives a misery - they are the ones who suffer pain and trauma and abuse, and get laughed at by the police when they are victims of crime.

yes I think they are both wrong. A lot of ASBOs are for minor offences and they can lead to vigilantism against prostitutes and non-prostitutes and harm their employment prospects as well as their relationships. I don't think we want a society with wanted posters all over town for people who have committed minor offences. I am always sceptical, but so far I have been impressed with Clegg et al. over their civil liberties stance. I hope they keep it up and mean what they say.