SWWOP (Sheffield Working Women's Opportunities Project)

MYTH		REALITY
Prostitution is illegal in Britain		Prostitution is not illegal in Britain, though it is a criminal but not an inprisonable offence to ‘solicit or loiter in a public place for the purpose of prostitution’
Punters are dirty old men in raincoats		In Sheffield the majority of punters who use female street sex workers are white men. Recent national research (2005) identified a typical punter as a man of around 30, married, in full time employment with no criminal convictions.
Street sex workers are all drug addicted, dirty women from dysfunctional families.		There is no such thing as a typical female street sex worker. Sex workers come in all shapes and sizes, from all classes of society and from lots of different ethnic backgrounds. The majority of street sex workers in Sheffield are Class A drug users. Drug use like domestic abuse is not exclusive to class or ethnicity.
All ‘Pimps’ are criminals who force vulnerable girls into a life of vice and take all their money.		Whilst some ‘Pimps’ are criminals, for most female street sex workers working in Sheffield, the ‘Pimp’ is usually their boyfriend or partner. Some of them take the money some don’t.
Sex work is easy money.		Women working as street sex workers put themselves at risk of: Abuse (from public, punters, kids, partners, other working women) Violence (including rape, gang rape, robbery from punters, public, other working women, drug dealers and sometimes murder.) Kidnap (by punters, drug dealers, other pimps) PLUS: Arrest and involvement in the criminal justice system, drug and alcohol use, unsafe sex, lifestyle/ social circumstances (homelessness, lack of food, clothes, warmth, shelter, can’t shower, no money for anything but drugs, isolated, no friends or family networks).
Sex workers enjoy sex/are sexaholics		Selling sex is seen by the majority of street sex workers as an alternative option for obtaining money than shop-lifting/burglary etc. They won’t get sent to prison and it doesn’t hurt anyone but themselves.

MYTH

REALITY