murder in Soho (not recent)

I've been telling people on my blog that the last time a sex worker was murdered in Soho was in 1947. I thought it was important to point that out because people say that sex work is the most dangerous form of work. My response was not in Soho. No sex worker is alone in the flat with a man so it is much safer.

It seems that I wasn't quite right about that. There was another one in 1948 and then a double murder in 1975. I had got my original information from the Murdered sex workers in the United Kingdom site. It mentions Camille Gordon who was murdered in Soho in 2004, but she wasn't a sex worker, she worked in a clip joint.

So my original point is still true, murders are rare in the Soho walk ups, for reasons that are not difficult to understand. It shouldn't be difficult to decide who is in the category 'sex worker murdered in a Soho walk-up'. Rachel Annie Fennick counts because she was murdered in 1948 in Broadwick Street Soho. Helen Freedman doesn't count because she was murdered in 1948 in Covent Garden.

It's worth pointing out that Elizabeth Valad had worked in a Soho walk-up. Westminster Council evicted her from her Soho flat as part of a crackdown on the sex trade in the district. She then worked in the King's Cross/Camden area where she was murdered with another sex worker in 2002. Their murderer had previously that year murdered another sex worker in that area.

The murders that occurred in Soho in 1975 were of Jeanne Odette Western, a 63 year old French woman, and her maid Rena Conzimu. They were murdered in the walk-up at 2-3 Peter Street. Someone set fire to the building. It is thought to be gang related, and that the real target was the sex worker in the other flat at 2-3 Peter Street, Margaret Vassallo.

There were four cases of murders of sex workers in Marylebone, in 1942, 1994, 1997 and 2012. There were no walk-ups in Marylebone, although there were a few in the Shepherd Market/Mayfair area. So I still maintain that it is wrong for people to generalise about sex workers and say they are always at high risk of murder. Sex work doesn't have to be dangerous. It is not inherently dangerous and can be made safe. Or as safe as other ways of earning money.

When I see statistics relating to murder and violence in prostitution I know that most of it is to do with the minority of sex workers who are drug addicts. That doesn't mean we can ignore what happens to them: the Nordic Model won't help them but spending more money on rehab and other social measures will. It is common for some people to use statistics related to drug addicts and claim that they relate to all sex workers: for example Ruhama claimed that 38% of Irish prostitutes had attempted suicide. This research was of a group of 77 drug addicted street based sex workers in Dublin.

Sex workers in Soho walk-ups aren't drug addicts. Sex workers who aren't drug addicts don't have as high a risk as for sex workers in total and women who work with other women are even less at risk. That's what I think about when I hear people saying that it's so dangerous it should be banned.

8 Greek Street

When I wrote this post I had forgotten about the recent problems that sex workers in the Soho walk-ups have been having. Teenage boys have been going up the stairs doing as much damage as they can, filming it and putting it on TikTok.

Someone could easily create a fire that could kill people, as happened in Peter Street in 1975. Perhaps the sex workers and their maids should put water sprinklers into the stairways. The sprinklers would be activated by detectors but also manually from inside the flats. The sex workers and maids have CCTV and could turn the sprinklers on when these yobs are coming up the stairs.

This is a good video on the subject.

more about France and Sweden

In my last post I looked at MSP Ash Regan's attempt to introduce the Nordic Model to Scotland. She seems to accept that the Nordic Model hasn't worked in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. She puts this down to lack of enforcement and said that the Nordic Model has worked in France and Sweden.

I've just been reading a 2018 anti-trafficking report from ICI (Immigrant Council of Ireland). There hasn't been a more recent report, as far as I can tell. It has something to say about the Nordic Model in France and Sweden. It doesn't say that that the Nordic Model is working just fine in France but it is very complementary about Sweden. Although it gives false statistics about Sweden. It was written by Dr Monica O'Connor.

This is what it says about France. I have highlighted what I think is important.

"The recent French law has clearly had an immediate impact on policing in terms of the focus of law enforcement being on the buyer not the person selling sex on the streets. But the French expert highlights a number of challenges ahead, including: the inconsistency in the implementation of the criminalisation of buyers from region to region; the continued use of other public order offences against women in some areas; weak implementation of the law in relation to minors in prostitution, particularly in relation to the defence by buyers of not knowing her age; trafficked and procured women being regarded as undocumented migrants rather than victims of exploitation; delays in the resourcing and establishment of exit route programmes, services and accommodation for women seeking to exit prostitution. It is also worth noting all the arrests of buyers have been on the streets and that a further challenge will be the policing and arrest of buyers in indoor locations."

I have summarised the main points below. 

• the law has only been enforced in some regions in France
• women are still being arrested
• weak enforcement of the law with minors
• women are getting deported and not helped
• women are not being helped to exit
• enforcement only applies to the minority of women who work on the street
• they have barely begun to enforce this law with the majority of prostitutes and clients, those who work indoors, and it's uncertain if that is even possible

It doesn't seem that Ash Regan has read this. Dr Monica O'Connor isn't being as critical as she could have been, she didn't state that prostitution of minors is on the increase - up 285% since 2015. Although Dr O'Connor might not have known this in 2018. It doesn't seem that anything has changed for the better in France since 2018 judging from the 2025 report.

This is what it says about Sweden. I have copied-and-pasted the whole paragraph and highlighted the false statistics.

"Since the legislation came into force on 1 January 1999, 7,059 men have been apprehended for attempting to purchase or for having purchased a sexual service resulting in 3,006 convictions. In addition, 1,593 men have been arrested for the purchase of a sexual act from a child under 18 years of age resulting in 233 convictions. There have been 1,328 reported crimes for procuring and 481 for trafficking for sexual exploitation. Through the direct or indirect intervention by the police, many more have been dissuaded from purchasing someone for the purpose of exploitation in prostitution. These arrest figures indicate the successful enforcement of the law but a government-appointed Commission of Inquiry in 2010 indicates the wider positive outcomes of the law. The Inquiry found the law has acted as an effective anti-trafficking measure; reduced the number of people in prostitution compared to neighbouring states such as Denmark, which, at the time, had three times the number of people in prostitution; and has had the desired normative effect with strong public support for the law. The law has proven to be an effective deterrent to sex purchasers with a decrease in reported users down from 13.6 per cent in 1996, 7.9 per cent in 2008 and 7.5 per cent in 2015, with a normative effect on prospective buyers. Despite claims by critics of the Swedish approach that criminalising the purchase of sexual services and sexual acts increases the risk to women in prostitution, the Walby et al. (2016) research once again confirms there is no evidence to substantiate this claim."

So there were 3,006 convictions in 19 years. As far as I know all or nearly all of these 'convictions' were fines. That works out at about 158 a year. Do you think this would be enough of a deterrent to change behaviour?

I have read the 2010 Inquiry (by Anna Skarhed) and it doesn't claim a reduction in the amount of prostitution. It claims that prostitution would probably have increased in Sweden as it has done in Denmark were it not for the Nordic Model. However, it does seem that her information about an increase in Denmark is incorrect.

The bit about the 'desired normative effect' is disturbing. In a democracy a government should reflect the attitudes of the populace: it shouldn't seek to change them. There is strong public support for criminalising men, there isn't strong public support for decriminalising women. So whether they support the Nordic Model or a different model like what is found in America is impossible to say.

The most important thing though is that the Swedish government has lied to its people about the effectiveness of its policies. In any country you might have a third of people who want prostitution and drugs to be criminalised, a third who want the opposite (usually because they think it doesn't work), and a third who are undecided. That undecided third will be swayed by what they are told. If they are told that it works then they will think "Well if it works at substantially decreasing the problem then I will go along with it".

The ICI report says that "reported users down from 13.6 per cent in 1996, 7.9 per cent in 2008 and 7.5 per cent in 2015". The more up-to-date figure for 1996 is 12.7% and for 2008 it is 7.6%. They give the 2014 survey figure of 7.5% (saying that it is from 2015). They omit the figure from the 2011 survey which shows that it was 10.2%. So there was a drop followed by a rise followed by a drop. It's obvious why they don't want to tell you about the 2011 survey result: they want you to believe that there was a continuous drop.

The ICI report is from 2018, so they should have been aware of the 2017 survey results. This puts the figure at 10%. So there was a drop (12.7% to 7.6%) then a rise (7.6% to 10.2%) then a drop (10.2% to 7.5%) then a rise (7.5% to 10%). None of which would surprise a statistician who expects statistics to rise and fall. It would surprise anyone else who has been told there was a continuous drop. This is cherry-picking, one of the worst examples.

These figures aren't even for 'reported users'. They are for the proportion of men who had paid for sex at some time in their life. We have the figures for men who are users, as well as for women who had been paid for sex at some time in their life. In 1996 1.3% of Swedish men were active sex buyers and in 2008 1.8% were. In 1996 0.3% of Swedish women had been paid for sex and in 2008 1.1% were. So even more cherry-picking. I have gone into the detail here.

There is evidence for an increased risk to women in prostitution in Sweden, but not proof. The evidence from France and Ireland is stronger. The Walby et al study of 2016 is very cherry-picky. Sylvia Walby doesn't tell her readers the statistics from Sweden that I have outlined above, only the ones that support her view that Sweden has been a success and reduced demand. She knows about the 2014 report from two Swedish women Mujaj and Netscher that has all of the relevant statistics. She makes a reference in her 2016 study of their 2014 study. However, her claim that the results from the 2014 Swedish survey are the lowest in Europe is not found in the Mujaj and Netscher study. So as well as being a cherry-picker she has made a false statement.

When you think that ICI was started by Sr Stanislaus Kennedy of the Religious Sisters of Charity who used to run Magdalene Laundries it's not really surprising that they are dishonest. Ruhama was founded by members of two orders of nuns both of whom had run Magdalene Laundries. Ruhama stated that 38% of Irish prostitutes have attempted suicide, which is another lie. Do they want to help women or do they want to stop sin? At least Dr Monica O'Connor was willing to say that the Nordic Model in France is harming women. She believes in the Nordic Model but is willing to say when it harms women. That makes her different from Ash Regan who is more determined to support this ideology no matter what.