BMJ  2007;334:52-53 (13 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.39087.642801.BE

Editorials

Protection of sex workers

Decriminalisation could restore public health priorities and human rights

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Between 2 and 12 December 2006, the bodies of five young women—Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell, and Annette Nicholls (aged 19-29)—were discovered near Ipswich.^w1 Their involvement in street prostitution created a media controversy over whether labelling them as prostitutes was dehumanising, as well as raising questions about our duty to protect such women, and how this can be best achieved.^w2 Sex workers and their families have spoken of abuse and violence, and they have added a human face to these women's lives. This has provoked an overdue debate, but the same stereotyping, prejudices, myths, and a failure to appreciate the complexity and diversity of sex work and its social contexts persist.¹

Sex workers around the world continue to be murdered, including about six each year in the United Kingdom.^w3 Standardised mortality rates for sex workers are six times those seen in the general population (18 for murder), . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Department of Medicine and Women's Centre, Dalhousie University, NS, Canada B3H 2Y9, ² Institute for Applied Social and Health Research, University of Paisley, PA1 2BE UK

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Contributors and Sources

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