vote for Police and Crime Commissioner

I've just been to vote. There were three sets of votes. One was for the Merseyside Police and Crimes Commissioner. I had no information about who the four candidates are. I can't remember who I voted for but now I've done a bit more research it looks as if Emily Spurrell for Labour is the best bet.

Emily, who was among the speakers, said: “Women who are involved in sex work are at risk of extreme violence and abuse every day. These women are often vulnerable and we must protect them and do what we can to end the marginalisation they experience.

“I’m proud to say that Merseyside Police has led the way in prosecuting and securing convictions against those who commit offences against sex workers, in large part by being the first Force in the country to recognise these crimes as hate crimes and through the skill and care of our specialist sexual offences Unity Team who have been able to successfully prosecute violent individuals.

“This work has also been supported by the development of the Red Umbrella project which aims to support these women to ensure they get the help they need, ideally so they can exit this type of work but, for those who remain, to ensure they are better protected and are able to work free from violence, abuse and exploitation.

As part of this project, a dedicated police sex worker liaison officer has been appointed to build trust and give sex workers the confidence to report incidents of violence to the police. Funding is also being used to improve the gathering of intelligence on those who inflict violence on sex workers.”