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/

It’s both. Working class = no one cares. Woman = no one cares.

Couldn't agree more. Tangentially related - you might find this thread of interest, where we're talking about the ways in which working class women are doubly disadvantaged by austerity. Also related - the grooming gangs scandal, where the first reaction of the police was to view the behaviour of both rapist and raped working class girl as equally criminal - working class = unrapeable.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3244817-Universal-credit-domestic-abuse

Are all men even those who have no one, no companionship, possibly with other issues which they find debilitating in their quest to find some form of normality rapists?

Yes. I don’t give a toss about the ‘poor men’ - they aren’t looking for companionship, they want something to fuck. There’s no normality in prostitution, don’t kid yourself.

No one has a right to sex. 90% of women in the industry don’t want to be in it. Up to 95% have suffered severe assault, about 70% have suffered rape.

Every single man who buys sex, even if its with a totally willing and non coerced woman drives demand for the sex industry. The sex industry is a chain of human misery, fuelling trafficking, rape and organised crime.

Men who buy sex should be criminalised and, in my opinion, subjected to some societal opprobrium. They are the lowest of the low.

Yeah I thought that AIBU or is decriminalizing sex bullshit?

That is shocking. I don’t know what to say. This is one reason I get no benefits: I was sexually assaulted by the police in Leeds, which gave me PTSD, which of course I can’t access any treatment for. I battled with the job centre for about a month, during which time they were very abusive and said lots of horrible things, and told me I wasn’t entitled to anything. I found it all so terrible I am too afraid to ask again. People have told me no, I am entitled and to fight, but since the attack I just don’t have it in me to fight them. The worst of it is, that is not an individual case of bad luck. That is a systematic tool they are using to stop people claiming what they are entitled to. We are so trapped. Can’t find work, can’t get medical care, can’t move to another area, can’t do anything. Thank god it’s only me and I don’t have kids to worry about, or I would be forced to keep trying, or we would have starved. I don’t know what to say. What are they doing with everyone’s taxes? Where is all the money going? People pay taxes to provide healthcare and help for people. I know I did, and I haven’t had anything like the taxes I paid in back out again. In fact they have done nothing for me. I assumed they were using my money to help other people, but they are not. So where is all the money?

It’s always interesting to see the obligatory prostitution male apologist because their view is always the same.

They think they are entitled to sex
They will engage in any amount of mental gymnastics to insist that the majority of women in the sex industry are happy belle du jour types, despite vast amounts of data collected over multiple countries and many years that shows quite the opposite.
They refuse to acknowledge that their actions directly drive this industry.
Only their ‘right’ to sex is important. Women are just there to service it

Recently there’s been ‘what about women buying sex eh?’ And ‘what about disabled men/men just looking for companionship’ type arguments too. Neither of those fly either. The disabled and lonely don’t get a free pass to engage in rape.

celine have you been in touch with women’s aid? They are amazing at support for this kind of thing.

Out of all the class issues IMO economic class is the absolute most important one in the UK... unsurprising given our history and the Tory government.

No I haven’t, I have been stuck in limbo not knowing what to do. I will think about that, thank you for the suggestion

Re the lefty dude bros... Like with most of the time when men are unsatisfactory or abusive, they don’t ‘just need to be made aware of what’s happening’ they have these views because they are misogynists...

Celinedayjardnz. I second the Women's Aid suggestion.

Thanks for sharing this and celine for writing this piece. As a middle class woman who lives in a 'nice' area I'm horrified at what you've written and I hope that all women would be. It's fucking outrageous that a whole area has been written off and turned into a ghetto in the way you describe and that vulnerable women are being exposed to such violence and degradation, while their daughters grow up wondering if they're next.

I agree that the media is anti-women and that your best bet is women of all classes speaking out in solidarity with one another, because a lot of MC women like myself haven't always lived in nice areas. As a student and as a recent graduate I and my friends lived in some very rough areas. Back in the 90s we were living in Brixton, Camberwell, New Cross, Stockwell and other pretty grim places where we didn't feel (and weren't), safe. I was mugged by a drug addict at a bus stop in 'leafy' Battersea. I think you might find a lot of MC women, if only they knew what was going on, would be disgusted and happy to join you in demanding change (at least, I bloody well hope so).

A group of us are going to the woman’s place meeting in todmordon and we want to set up a feminist group in Leeds. I’m sure this is one of the things we may be talking about. I know there are efforts here and there to fight it, but I’m not clear yet what I can personally do to get active and try to change it. Hopefully meeting the other women and talking to them I will get ideas. We definitely need more feminism in Leeds. It’s shocking to me, learning about feminist history, how strong the movement has been here, how many great feminists have come out of the city, and yet it remains such a misogynistic place. Perhaps that’s why. Perhaps if I had grown up down south and stayed down south forever I would never have found feminism either.

I've always said that policemen are men. They're the same as the rest, no better. Britain's class issues are also a major problem. I agree that it's the traditional middle classes who predominantly provide the markets for drugs and prostitution both, but just push it away from their naice areas. The big sex abuse scandals eventually got into the national newspapers, but the low level crime and intimidation is everywhere. I saw it growing up in a small northern village ffs.

Celine, I went to a Woman's Place event recently and absolutely loved it. My only gripe was that it didn't last longer. I found it so inspiring to meet other feminists in the flesh, with all of us chatting away like old friends in the pub afterwards. Make sure to collect contact details.

Hopefully meeting the other women and talking to them I will get ideas.

I'm crossing everything for you that you do. Talk to Lisa Muggeridge if you can - she's going and is shit hot on the interaction of sex, class and social policy.

That is another story for another thread but yes, women are very cheap in Leeds. It appears systematic to me

Agree. I lived there 3 years. Glad to be out and back in the "boring backwater" I came from. These "yokels" I am back with now are much less misogynistic and racist than that up and coming modern city. Laughable.

@Celinedayjardnz - welcome From me too. Thanks for posting - utterly shocking.

What a brilliant piece of writing Celia thank you. I don’t know why so many people are willing to sweep this under the carpet and allow poor areas to become lawless. I wanted to suggest you contact Woman’s Place ahead of the Todmorden meeting to see if you could perhaps read your post out? I think it would be of real interest to the women there.

I really second getting this thread moving to more mainstream area of MN. It's not just a feminist issue.

Hilary Benn's doing fuck all. I know for a fact that his first reaction to Dara Pionka's murder was to worry if it would put Burberry off its plan to relocate there.

There were Independents standing in Beaton and Holbeck.

Perhaps @Mumsnet could have @Celinedayjardnz 's blog post as their blog of the day?

Perhaps @Mumsnet could have @Celinedayjardnz 's blog post as their blog of the day?

This is an excellent idea.

I mean I echo LaSquirl's comment that the comment by Disturbingly is bang on the money.

Prostitution could not exist in its current form, or probably at all, if it were legalised.

Thirding this re blog of the day. Will report to hq to bring it to their attention.