I actually sat with the CEO of @BasisSexWork whilst this journalist @charleshymas interviewed her for this article. Not only has he not mentioned Basis once, but he has deliberately excluded all the positive facts she gave him about the work they do. So I’ll help you out, Charles https://twitter.com/lesles68/status/1021651040679194624

We’ll start here, because it’s kind of embarrassingly obvious Charles. In your article, you blame an increase of STD rates in Leeds entirely on the managed zone. The sex workers of Leeds are not responsible for this. In Leeds, people also have sex with non sex workers (weird!)

Here is an online timeline of #sexwork regulation in Leeds. It records every police initiative, changes in law, as many incidents of violence as we could recover & all efforts to support sex workers. You can see how Nordic model initiatives have failed.

https://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/1051767/The-History-of-Sex-Work-in-Leeds/

Since the managed approach has been brought in, reports of violent crime from sex workers to the police has TRIPLED. I wonder why that stat didn’t make it into your article?

Here is a list of Nordic Model police initiatives in Leeds...
Operation Dairy 2009
Operation Champion 2008
Operation Demi John 2007
Operation Crow 2006
‘Acceptable Behaviour Contract’ scheme 2004
Operation Rampart 2004
Kerb Crawler Rehabilitation Scheme - 1998

The Nordic model you mention in Ireland, Northern Ireland and France Have seen violence against sex workers increase significantly - by 77% in Ireland. I don’t know why you left this out of your article, Charles. I know we told you about it.

When you misrepresent the managed approach in Leeds, you do a disservice to the sex workers, the police, outreach groups & the residents who are working hard to try and find a way to keep people safe. Lives are at risk & articles like this only further stigmatise vulnerable women

Gosh. When we spoke to you, Charles, you said the police were rightly refusing to talk to you - and now there is a ‘senior police’ officer calling it all a ‘disaster’. How odd that the West Yorkshire police broke their own policy of no comment to give you that one.

The notion that the managed approach has brought sex work to Holbeck is also untrue. Police reports back in 2004 estimate 170 street sex workers working in Holbeck. In the managed zone today, there are 70. https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/holistic-bid-to-slash-prostitute-numbers-1-2269285/amp

As for STDs, since the managed approach was brought in, Basis (the LEADING sex worker support group in Leeds) have been able to get five times as many condoms, STD tests, etc to vulnerable women on the streets.

“It was a total amnesty on any of the scumbags buying and selling the girls”. Now Charles, you seem to be ignoring the statistics we gave you about the prosecutions brought against violent men because of the managed approach & because sex workers report directly to the police