CONTRAFLOW ARTICLE ON THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE PROSTITUTES IN STREATHAM... In recent months residents round the Streatham area of South London have been actively campaigning to get rid of prostitutes who solicit for trade in several streets round the area, and the kerbcrawlers they attract. The prostitutes, who've been using the area for several years; locals say the kerbcrawlers harass any women in the area, that kids have been picking up used condoms and hypodermics, and have been constantly propositioned.,people are always finding people having sex in their gardens...After years of putting pressure on the police, residents got pissed off with it in June and Streatham Against Kerbcrawlers and residents groups started to block off roads and prevent people driving through their area.Naturally this annoyed the coppers who don't like to see anyone taking matters into their own hands.The cops have harassed demonstrators and added to the problem by interrogating young women residents walking in the area. The campaign raises alot of questions, and is full of contradictions. On the one hand, a good deal of the pressure seems to be of the Not in My Back Yard, middle class, protect-my- property-prices variety. They have the backing of local councillors (tories and liberals), local bigwigs, the South London Press, their MP etc: it's partly a very establishment- backed campaign. The thrust of it has also been 'Make the police do a proper job'. Theirs seems to be a limited aim of pushing the problem somewhere else. It's hard to tell how much of a moral outrage, anti-sex tone there is, (but since this is a fairly typical british suburban attitude, it's bound to be in there):it's also anyone's guess how many of the men involved have visited prostitutes themselves but don't want it" going on on their doorstep." On the other had, residents have been quoted saying they are not against the women, they just don't want to deal with the problems, and some voices raised saying the women should have legal brothels and safe places to work. Even a local tory councillor has said it should be legal (and taxable of course!) It's good that people recognise that the prostitutes are just trying to make a living, selling their labour like everyone else. And living in redlight areas CAN be a pain in the arse: sleazy men abusing every woman on the steets, always coppers driving about. Although its also important to point out that this is NOT limited to red-light areas: it happens in _most_ neighbourhoods, and it's crap to blame the sex workers themselves for situations created by a fucked-up society where sex is on sale and exploited like everything else. But it's difficult to see what there can be in the way of a permanent solution. Prostitution will always exist in a money economy (probably longer). Even the stopgap solution of getting the women 'off the streets' and licensing brothels, etc, is unlikely to end soliciting in the street. Brothels, sex lines,and such exist at the minute but not every man who wants to pay for sex is prepared to use them. From the point of view of the women themselves, though, this could certainly make life sAfer from the aggro of arrest and the attentions of the numerous psychos and vicious men who see protitutes as fair game. This is not a small consideration, since they do face alot of abuse and violence; however there seems to be few people listening to what they might have to say. Legalisation is also unlikely to happen in the current climate of moral repression.Like other 'fringe economy' trade like petty theft, drugs, stolen goods etc, it often leads to people in areas getting pissed off that 'they are having to suffer'. But pushing them onto another community seems a small-minded way of dealing with it. It's interesting to see people organising themselves and blocking roads: but the protests have stopped since the cops promised tougher action. Although the cops claim to be targetting kerbcrawlers, it always seems to be the women themselves getting nicked: pimps are left alone. Meanwhile richer men can always afford safer and more expensive surroundings if they want to buy someone's services. There's no easy solution, while sex, like everything else is regulated by money and the law, and while sexual repression and a desire for excitement, power over women, anonymous sex or whatever (mostly products of our fucked-up society and attitude to sex) leads men to turn to prostitutes. Targeting the women is just a way of shoving the problem out of sight. A good old british way of dealing with the problem. -------------------- We talked to the English Collective of Prostitutes, who made the following statement on proposals on the legalisation of brothels and the abolition of laws on prostitution: "The English Collective of Prostitutes is opposed to state-run 'legalised prostitution' including 'toleration zones', which would segregate sex workers off from the rest of the community and do nothing to protect women from violence. They are calling for abolition of the prostitution laws. This woudl remove prostitution from the criminal law, thus for the first time disentangling consenting sex, which should not be the business of the law, from offenses of nuisance, which existing legisation on nuisance or public order is well able to deal with. Abolition would also undermine the need for red-light areas, as women be able to advertise and work from premises. Abolition of the laws is the only way to end the criminalisation and stigmatisation of prostitute women and men. Sex workers like other workers should come under civil not criminal law and have their rights recognised and protected." * Contact the English Collective of Prostitutes, c/o Kings Cross Women's Centre, (mailing address): P.O. Box 287, London NW6 5QU. Tel: 0171-837 7509.