 A PROSTITUTION conference in Liverpool has called for the trade to be legalised. Liverpool University hosted an international conference on street prostitution considering the question "Should the sale of sex on Britain's streets be legalised?" Guest speakers included Rosie Campbell, chairwoman of the UK Network of Sex Work Projects, and Professor David Canter, director of the centre for Investigative Psychology at the university. Mrs Campbell said: "The main theme that kept emerging at the conference was the need for policies that create safer conditions for people on the streets. "What is there now isn't working for residents and certainly not for sex workers in terms of safety and rights and we need effective policies." Zones where prostitutes could work legally and safely was proposed at last year's conference and it is still high on the agenda. Mrs Campbell said the killing of two prostitutes in north Liverpool two months ago should be a lever for change in policy. She said: "We aren't saying any policy can eliminate violence in sex work but it's not inevitable, in the Netherlands where the zones have been introduced there have been no murders within those zones. "Lots of the research highlights some of the higher levels of violence reported against street sex workers so there is a genuine call to experiment with zoning." Mrs Campbell said representatives from the Home Office attended the conference and are currently conducting a review of the policy and law around prostitution. Prof Canter described the conference as a "unique opportunity for local authorities to get to grips with the problems of prostitution". He said: "Following the recent brutal murder and dismemberment of two Liverpool prostitutes, the risks of the trade have never been more real. "In a civilised society we need to find a way of helping women out of this dangerous and degrading trade or of managing their activities so that violence is minimised." | 
News RSS Feed