Prostitution and the trade union movement

The trade union movement has been responsible for some of the greatest social justice breakthroughs in history. Trade unionists have fought tenaciously over centuries against excessive hours of work and dangerous working conditions and for decent pay and paid holidays and sick pay – and for workers to be treated with dignity. When conditions were irreconcilable with decent working conditions, they campaigned for a rethink. They didn’t want better lighting for five-year-olds working in the dark in coal mines, they wanted them to be in school and playing in the fresh air.

A debate is now raging in the trade union movement about prostitution. Is it ‘sex work’ – a service industry that just needs to come under employment regulations? Or is it more like kids working down the mines – something that can never be reconciled with social justice and that should therefore be abolished?

Come along to this event, where supporters of the latter position will explain why prostitution can never be a normal job, how it wreaks havoc on individuals and the wider community, and what exactly the Nordic Model is and how it compares with full decirminalisation.

Organised by Nordic Model Now! this event is a TUC conference fringe event.

Programme

Emily Husain: Welcome and introduction.

Heli St Luce: A brief introduction to the Nordic Model approach to prostitution, the reasoning and evidence behind it, and how it compares with full decriminalisation.

Esther: A look at some of the health and safety, and equality and legal impacts on other workers and the wider public if prostitution is accepted as a legal and regular business.

Jenna: Once a prostitute, always a prostitute? Why the Nordic Model offers hope for a better life.

Sarah Green: Speaking as someone with years of experience running support services for women in prostitution, Sarah will explore what happens to women when prostitution is framed as regular work.

Q&A and discussion.

Venue details

This public event will take place in a central Brighton venue, close to the Brighton Conference Centre, where the TUC conference will be taking place.

We will email ticket holders with the details of the venue shortly before the event. If you can’t see the email, please check your spam folders.

The venue is wheelchair accessible and there is an accessible toilet. If you need any special assistance, please don’t hesitate to email us at info@nordicmodelnow.org.

Tickets

Standard tickets are £5 and concessionary tickets are £3.

Please select the ticket price that best matches your financial circumstances. If you want to come but cannot afford a concessionary ticket, please email info@nordicmodelnow.org and we will endeavour to provide you with a free ticket.

Please note: TUC delegates do not need tickets.

Children and teenagers

We apologise that we are not running a creche at this event. While babes in arms are welcome (please take them outside the auditorium if they cry), this event is not suitable for children.

However, we encourage older teenagers to attend, but advise discretion with younger teenagers and require parental supervision for teenagers under 16.

Questions

There will be time for questions during the event, but you are welcome to email in advance any questions you would like the panel to consider. Please put ‘Event Question’ in the subject line and email it to info@nordicmodelnow.org. Time constraints mean we will be limited in how many questions we can address.

This is a mixed event

This event will include women talking about some of the worst forms of male violence. We ask everyone, but particularly men, to be mindful of this and how both speakers and members of the audience may find this triggering because it resonates with their own experiences of male violence. We ask everyone to be open and respectful.

Speakers

Esther. Esther has a longstanding interest in research on legal and public policy approaches to sexualised violence and domestic abuse. She uses her own experience of porn and prostitution to reflect on these issues.

Heli St Luce. Heli designs and facilitates interactive workshops for adults and businesses, she is a coach, aromatherapist and ceremony/ritual guide. As the child of an underage, immigrant, single mother she was witness to sexploitation first ‘saving’ her mother and then making her sick. ‘I’ve always wanted to change the world, working with NMN creates a real and valuable way to do that’.

Jenna. Jenna is a survivor of prostitution and a passionate advocate for its abolition and for the implementation of the Nordic model.

Sarah Green. CEO of Women At The Well, an organisation that supports women who are affected by or at risk of sexual exploitation. Women’s organisations with specialist knowledge and experience in responding to sexual exploitation are key to any social and political change, but are hard to fund and make sustainable in the current policy and economic environment. Sarah has worked for more than 25 years in human rights and violence against women and girls campaigns and organisational development.

Emily Husain. Emily is a civil barrister and feminist who has volunteered with women’s organisations and groups addressing violence against women for several years. Emily has a particular interest in the domestic and international legislative framework surrounding prostitution and she joined NMN in 2023. Emily will chair the event.