Glasgow's Women - Not For Sale

Jennifer McCarey

1,400 women are known to social work agencies to be working in Glasgow streets selling sex for cash. If you find this fact hard to believe then perhaps you don't live or work in one of the two areas of Glasgow in which street prostitution is a daily occurrence, in the East End 'Calton' area or the city centre 'drag'.

Or perhaps you are untouched by the reverberations that effect those families and communities living with the alcohol, heroin or cocaine addiction that is identified as the driving force for cash experienced by 95 % of street prostitutes. Of course you will have had no part to play in the sexual abuse, assault and rape which is identified by most of these women in childhood and considered by many to be a key formative ingredient in the cocktail of appalling social problem which combine, cause and effect, to a conclusion of life on the edge on the streets. Nor will you be one of the men from in and around our city that exchange cash for sex and in doing so indulge in acts which dehumanise and brutalise. Many of these exchanges result in violence, rape, serious assault and for eight women in Glasgow in the last fifteen years murder.

Following Margo McDonald MSP proposal of Tolerance Zones the Scottish Executive established an Expert Group which published its first report in December 2005 recommending a review of the law on street prostitution in Scotland focusing on 'offensive behaviour or conduct applicable to either the person buying or selling sexual service'.

The Scottish Parliament is currently considering the Prostitution (Public Places) Bill. This legislation proposes to 'equalise' the law in terms of purchaser and seller of sex and in doing so allow legal intervention when the behaviour of purchaser and seller impacts on the economic and residential communities which live along side street prostitution.

There are a diversity of political and ideological positions on the issue of prostitution, not least on the left in which the political perspective have ranged from the proposed unionisation of 'sex work' and 'sex workers'; that tackling violence and assaults involved in sex work, as a health and safety at work issue, in support of the position taken by some prostitute rights groups in the eighties. A position which influences but not wholly articulates Edinburgh based Scot-pep (Scottish Prostitute Education Project).

The selling and buying of sexual services can not be viewed in isolation from the sexual - economic behaviour continuum that exists within our society today or the reality of the current economic order. It is essential that a holistic approach is developed to deal with the social phenomenon of the sex industry, which includes respecting the human and civil rights' of sex workers and their clients.

Radical feminists such as Shelia Jeffrey whose work 'The idea of Prostitution' spars with traditional sociologists who placed prostitution in the context of deviant behaviour. Jeffrey's work placed the issue of prostitution in the continuum of male sexual violence against women and children. Jeffrey's position can be seen in much of Glasgow City Councils strategic approach to prostitution.

The Council is of the opinion that prostitution must be viewed as one form of commercial sexual exploitation and that a holistic analysis of sexual exploitation must be developed.

Equalising of the law between prostitute and punter? Of all women involved in selling sex the most vulnerable are undoubtedly those involved in street prostitution. The scale of the problem in Glasgow requires measures that legislation alone cannot provide. The extraordinary problems faced in Glasgow need massive resources, targeted, which offer a way to address the trauma that most women involved in street prostitution have faced. The variety of addiction and drug rehabilitation programmes that these women and many other needs are still not available. The stigma of prostitution continues to deny them access to the limited services available and the respect and confidentiality they deserve whilst using these services.

The Executive position and proposal is based on the behaviour of prostitution and how it impacts on the wider community. The management of the act of street prostitution to elevate anti social behaviour that affects the most articulate of advocates both residential and commercial. In doing so fails to deliver for any but the most powerful.

Already much criticism has been made of the bill's ability to deliver on the issue of 'kerb crawlers'. In Scotland kerb crawling is not an offence and men are free to trawl communities in search of street sex. Already much criticism has been levelled at the effectiveness of the proposed legislation and the ability of the police to arrest men who buy street sex.

Is it a moral repugnance that makes me gasp at the ambiguity of the Scottish Executive bill? Probably. I have lived the red light area of Glasgow for seven years and for six of those l have worked with women who sell street sex in this area and in the city centre are known as the 'drag'.

In Glasgow's East End where l live prostitution exists as a 24 hour problem. Children at St James Primary in the Calton area regularly witness, street prostitution, women and children are subject to daily harassment by men. They come to our community in cars with children's cars seats evident in the back seat, with money in their pockets and drive around our communities again and again. They like to window shop and to approach women slowly in cars, driving alongside them as they go about the business of living their everyday lives. I have been kerb crawled while visiting my daughter's nursery, shopping, attending community events, 9am, 3pm, 5pm, 8pm anytime, anyplace. anywhere.

Traditionally communities in opposition to prostitution on there streets have been represented as outraged middle class home owners. Protesting against intrusion and the stigmatisation of the area, naming the problem as one of women prostituting themselves.
Edinburgh's policy used to be that as long as it's in Leith nobody cares but Leith has become more middle class and not happy to be a dumping ground for Edinburgh Robin Kirkwood Leith Links Residents Association BBC January 2004.

This view has not been evident in Glasgow's east end, where the focus of community anger has been on ridding the area of the men who come into local streets looking for sex, alongside highlighting the increasing sexualisation of the Calton. We have seen the emergence of 'adult theme' shops and sexlines offices over the past few years. The Calton area has its fair share of problems hitting the headlines last year over the male life expectancy figure being identified as 53 years, the lowest in the U.K. However it remains a strong community, it is identified as one of the first area request of social housing in the east end, with many generations living side by side.

There is a strong tradition of local business and enterprise due to it's proximity to 'The Barras'. More recently on many occasions the community perceives itself to be left behind the regeneration efforts on its doorstep of Merchant City and the Saltmarket areas in Glasgow. 'The Barras', Europe's largest street market has also been stigmatised recently by street crime, with intense police activity focusing on counterfeiting. With residents up in arms at the same police efforts not in evidence when concerns around women and children's safety are raised. A series of local community meetings have taken place over the last year seeing packed halls of local people calling the police, council and other authorities to account.

What effective intervention can government make in terms of impacting on the poverty, abuse and addiction that engulf women involved in street prostitution? How can we change the behaviour of men who come seeking street sex and in doing so transform communities into no go zones?

A debate has emerged around attempts to introduce sanctions against men who kerb crawl. The sanctions would include losing driving licences and the possible impounding of vehicles. These proposals require examination but at the very least involve a degree of impact appropriate to the crime, whilst removing the ability of the 'punter' to drive back to communities and repeat the behaviour.

The complexity of the problems that my community faces cannot be categorised or addressed through legislation which addresses the effects of prostitution on the home owner, the economically advantaged and not the common causes that women share. The drive that some men have to seek street sex and the sanctions that men face in pursuit of this must be tackled alongside effective action to support women who prostitute themselves. It is time to focus on the 'punter' in Scotland and in doing so address the ill divided city we live in with resources and a commitment that channels a path from street prostitution to recovery.