You need to read this article about the Leeds red light district.

[DJLippy]

I read this blog about the Leeds red light district from someone who lives there. It's so illuminating. This needs a wider audience - please share on social media. This is what decriminalisation looks like.

littlegirlblue.blog/2018/05/25/living-in-the-red-light-district/

Someone always pops up on these threads to defend the absolute right of men to buy young women to stick their dicks in, yes thanks for the post, not anything new or original there.

What happens if 999 is dialed? Well, depends who's calling them and what the problem is. Some people get a more enthusiastic police response than others. This is also not news.

Exactly Sardine
Because even when women are victims of 'good rape' and they go to the police they still don't have a good conviction rate. Look how the defense destroyed the reputation of the Belfast Rape case woman. What kind of treatment do you think a prostitute would receive? Especially if it was 'legalised.' Legalising prostitution means legalising the rape of sex workers.

@Celinedayjardnz - welcome to Mumsnet and thank you for shining a light with your blog.

@SardineReturns

I think your apathy would end of were the person on the end of a call to 999.

Re: "nothing new or original" - well that's the point isn't it?

That women are seen as discardable sexual assets and have been for centuries.

I've no idea who you are, but if you are female ffs start doing some research.

Of your male, well the only thing I will say is to remember that there only one sex that was capable of incubating you for 9 months.....

I wasn't saying it's right but it's not that simple. DH's grandparents in Armley were piss poor, his grandfather couldn't work due to disability pre benefits and NHS. They didn't do drugs or prostitution. They were hungry and cold and there was no safety net.

FFS my typos are out of control.

Apologies ......

Very very interesting dot-joining. Susie Green's husband was a copper? Where was that, anyone know?

This "managed zone" was always about out of sight and out of mind. It's disgraceful.

“This is what decriminalisation looks like”

The thing is, while I don’t agree with decriminalisation and I do agree that no-one should have to live like that...

What’s happened in Holbeck isn’t exactly because of decriminalisation... that’s what living in Harehills was like before and I’m assuming other areas that had red light districts. Yes there was no official times, but if you phoned the police overnight they wouldn’t come in, not unless it was a full riot gear situation.

They haven’t actually created a decriminalised area, they’ve just moved them all into one place.

Not sure why I'm being told off?

darth arts

You’ve seen ‘red riding’ I presume?

W and s Yorkshire is deprived as hell, the police have a serious problem with corruption (not all of course, but it’s there.)
The councils have a serious problem with corruption too - our local council kept Private Eye’s ‘rotten boroughs’ section in print material for years. :(

It’s a deprived area that had the heart ripped out of it with industrial decline, no investment, big ghetto issues, corrupt councils and police.

Managed zones are a disgrace.

@DJLippy I'm really pleased to see this has been raised.

I've felt deeply, deeply uncomfortable about Holbeck & the attitude to women there for a number of months, ever since I learnt more via the BBC documentaries.

I think it is abhorrent that society has 'given up' on these women, because that is precisely the message that is sent out when you legalise prostitution.

These women need help, support and from what I can see, love.

I would actually really like to try and do something more action-based here. Campaigning work, donate, be vocal, I don't know what really. Does anyone know of a way to help more actively than rant on Mumsnet?

This not struck a terrible chord with me from the article;

Since they legalised prostitution here, rape has trebled. TREBLED. And the motherfucking police are telling everyone that is because women trust them more now and are so more likely to report. That is a fucking lie. Sorry for the language, but I’m angry as hell. It’s a damned lie. We hate the police. Rape has trebled, because they have told everyone rape will no longer be prosecuted here between 7pm and 7am.

@FermatsTheorem can you post more info about the go fund me page for the independent candidate please?

@Celinedayjardnz congratulations on such eloquent writing. I really hope you get a wider audience for it.

Truly shocking but no surprise. Thank you for writing this...we all need to understand the consequences of tolerance of sex buying/ rape for all women. I used to live in Leeds in an area which had many bail hostels for men around....so understand a little of how scary it can be. Why am I not surprised that Labour is not there opposing this?. They no longer have women's interests at the heart of their policies . Power to all you resisters in Holbeck, we are behind you.

Yes, I was talking about the local results in the national elections

Thank you for writing this, Celine, and to Lippy for finding it. Bleak.

I was a student there many years ago or emobiles, when news was through press, internet was just coming in, and the student areas which were properly rough then, not naice like now, were even then considered posh compared to harehills and the like. We knew not to go there. The Leeds student paper gave some pretty insightful and scary insights into it... I can’t believe that decades later it’s just been allowed to coast in to worse whilst the city is cheerfully congratulating itself on regeneration

The series is a very important bit of filmmaking IMO. I’ve also been watching it as well as the ones about homelessness.

@Offred I agree. But I'm seriously shocked more people aren't outraged by what is going on there...

The thing is, that just oppressed us further. We are seen as a sub class of human now. If you say to someone “I live in holbeck” all they want to talk about is the drugs and prostition and how dangerous it is etc. Just living there gives you a stigma. I sometimes wonder if that’s why I’m not finding work, because this is the first time I’ve had problems. It’s as though the city has just washed its hand of us, and to justify it, they blame us. But this was not our decision. They decided to fuck up the area. Actually there are nice people here, who never did anything wrong and they’ve just seen their community fall apart. Why should we have to leave? Why should we be chased out? I would like it here, if the police and council would do their jobs and enforce law and order the same as they do everywhere else in the city. If we stay, it is our fault for staying. But why should we leave? This belongs to us, not them. They don’t have the right to decide a certain part of the city belongs to criminals and tough luck on everyone else. We have a fascinating and proud working class history here. We have beautiful buildings and good people. I don’t want to be chased out. I would like us to grow and be what we could be. They want us out, because we are so close to the city centre. Once all the prossies and poor people eff off, this is prime real estate. We have some beautiful buildings crumbling away. They want us all gone, then they will come in, renovate them and sell them off as fancy apartments. So they’re trying to make it so unliveable that no one wants to be here any more. Then the developers will pounce. This could be a lovely place to live. I don’t see why we should leave. They are the ones with the money for drugs and prostitutes: let them take their “managed zone” to chapel allerton or some such place. Let us enjoy our area. Why should we be pushed out for them? Money is behind it, you mark my words, some developers will make a killing. We are right next to the canal and they are rebranding it “Holbeck village”. They want us all out and they will make the terraces posh and make the post office into a Starbucks. That is the long term objective.

@Celinedayjardnz I think one of your best chances is trying to leverage the media...not an easy job but...!

Read the blog now. Well done, that’s a brilliant piece of writing....

I can’t actually believe some dickhead would actually make that shitty comment re consent on this board and then justify it with ‘well someone I know was poor and they didn’t sell sex’ FFS...

Funnily enough, they just posted this report on twitter. We will keep pushing and pushing. I can see how great Holbeck could be. We deserve better than this www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-news/leeds-managed-sex-zone-documentary-14696307

OP should submit that article to The Times.