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As reported on the Guardian earlier, a scheme is being piloted in which sex workers will share intelligence with the police about violent customers.
It seems to have worked reasonably well in Australia, where violent attacks on sex workers were reduced. However, if it is to be successful here, the police need not merely to compile lists of violent attackers, but actually to prosecute them, no matter what the respective circumstances of the attacker and victim may be.
Women, all women, need to be taken seriously if they report an assault. It’s not enough to say after the event that an offender was known to the police or on a list. It needs to be dealt with seriously and efficiently at the time, and unless there is the will to do that, then this is just another meaningless database.
Thanks so much for blogging about the NUM Scheme.
I agree that for the Scheme to achieve its full potential sex workers need to be taken seriously when they report formally to the police. We are working hard to raise awareness of the Scheme amongst the police and sending the message that sex workers have the right to protection from the police and the right to justice when they are victims of crime. So far the reaction from police forces throughout the UK has been very positive.
When victims don’t feel confident enough to make full reports to the police intelligence will be shared (only when the victim consents) anonymously (so that the victim can’t be identified) with the Serious Crimes Analysis Section (SCAS) and with Police Intelligence Units throughout the UK. This will add to the existing intelligence about crimes against sex workers in the UK and also support SCAS in their analysis of serious sexual crimes and help bring perpetrators to justice.
Another crucial aspect of the Scheme is the alert/warning system which will build on and join up the local systems that are already in place in projects throughout the UK and the warning boards on escort sites and forums – both of which have made a difference. Sex workers and those who target them are often mobile so having a UK-wide warning system which is easily accessible could – and I believe will – really make sex workers safer by alerting them to the dangerous individuals who target them.
The description in the Guardian (“rape database”) was not entirely accurate and certainly does not do the Scheme justice. As well as building good practice amongst the police, the National Ugly Mugs Scheme is there to give options to sex workers who are victims of crime. If they want to make full reports to the police local projects, or the NUM Scheme if they don’t have a project nearby, can assist them and put them in touch with trusted officers. If they don’t want to make a formal report but want to alert other sex workers about the dangerous individual who targeted them or feed the information into police intelligence systems then we can do that without revealing their identity or personal information.
For more information please visit the National Ugly Mugs website http://www.uknswp.org/ugly-mugs/ or e-mail us on uglymugs@uknswp.org.uk
Thanks,
Alex Bryce (National Ugly Mugs Coordinator)