www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jul/29/austerity-is-forcing-women-into-sex-work-samantha-morton
Austerity is forcing women into sex work – Samantha Morton
Ahead of release of C4 film I Am Kirsty, actor says British welfare system is crumbling
Sarah Marsh
Sarah Marsh
@sloumarsh
Mon 29 Jul 2019 18.50 BST
Last modified on Tue 30 Jul 2019 00.15 BST
Samantha Morton in I am Kirsty: ‘Homelessness is so much more of an issue for women now.’
Samantha Morton in I am Kirsty: ‘Homelessness is so much more of an issue for women now.’ Photograph: Joss Barratt/Channel 4
The Oscar nominated actor Samantha Morton has pleaded with the government to address the impact of austerity on women, warning that they are increasingly being forced into sex work and homelessness.
In an emotional interview with the Guardian, Morton said: “I am pleading with this government … to not just farm us all off as lefties, liberals or whatever, but to have a serious look at the implications of what has happened with cutbacks.”
The actor, known for Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown and Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report, said: “Homelessness is so much more of an issue for women now. There are various factors for that, such as the closure of women’s refuges. Women in abusive relationships now have nowhere to go. So what we are looking at, there are women – often in rural areas – staying in horrific places so they have a roof over their heads.”
Morton was talking to the Guardian ahead of the release of her latest Channel 4 film, I Am Kirsty, which details the experiences of a single mother who is forced to consider sex work when she finds herself struggling financially. The hour-long film is part of a new series created by the Bafta winner Dominic Savage.
Morton said she pitched the idea to Savage. “I approached a brilliant screen writer about it years ago but it never got made. I put it to the back of my mind … When Dominic met me to discuss working together, he said, is there anything you’re interested in? I pitched this idea to him, because it’s something I had been through as a kid. It’s commonplace and it’s happening more and more.”
Reflecting on her childhood, she said: “The poverty I suffered as a kid growing up … Unemployment was very high so there was lots of sex work happening in communities then. It was about basic things, people selling their body to put food on the table, as opposed to supporting a drug habit.”
Morton said she discussed the plot with a friend, who divulged that she had experienced something similar. Other conversations with charities and women’s groups made it clear to Morton how common it was for women to be forced into sex work.
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“Students are having to do it to keep a roof over their heads. The system is all crumbling and not fit for purpose,” she said.
Morton added: “When I look at the decimation of Sure Start centres, the shift in the benefit system to universal credit, it’s all connected … the fact this is happening [women being forced into sex work] gets me emotional. It’s happening to people right now.”
Morton also discussed the election of Boris Johnson, criticising his comments about the child abuse inquiry. In March, child sex abuse victims criticised Johnson for claiming police funding was being “spaffed up the wall” investigating historical allegations. The Tory MP said in an interview with LBC that “an awful lot of police time” was spent looking at “historic offences and all this malarkey”.
Morton said: “What breaks my heart regarding that, having been a survivor of child abuse, in order to heal and fix it you have to go back to the root of the problem, like cancer, and cut it out. For me, I don’t have anger and blame any more, but I want it to be fixed … and we need to communicate about it and say this should never happen again.”