Transcript Slide 1

We believe in people’s capacity to change
Blenheim Evolve is a FREE,
SPECIALIST Stimulant, club
drug and cannabis service in
Southwark:
• One-to-one key working
• Club Drug Clinic
• SMART recovery
• Drop-In
• Women’s only service
• Needle Exchange
• One-to-one sessions for
families and carers
• A skilled team of drug
practitioners
“It’s not easy, sometimes appointments
get cancelled, or you have to wait ages
in the reception and that can be a trigger
for people. You get stressed as well waiting
and then that just makes you want to go out
and use more drugs”
“It’s difficult to wait for my
appointment with men there.”
“If women are not ready
to reduce their drug use
or go to rehab they are
lost to services….”
“It’s so hard for me to get to morning
appointments when I’ve been on
road all night, so I just don’t go…”
“It is crucial to have a good drugs worker
who is flexible to women’s needs,
punitive straightjacket rehabilitation doesn’t work”
“I really fear being judged,
it’s hard enough talking
about the drug use…”
“This client group is seen as expensive,
there’s no room for their complexity..”
• Not recognising how
heterogeneous the Commercial
Sex Trade is.
•Is Sex Work, work? Or is it
gendered violence?
•Glamorised or stigmatised..
•Polarised morals.. Is providing
services supporting prostitution?
•How to establish need? Where’s
the guidance and policy?
•Unhelpful and confusing legal
framework
Women in Street Based Prostitution are 12x more likely
to be murdered
(VAWG, 2013)
 In a study interviewing 83 women involved in the
London Commercial Sex Trade:
 72% of women reported one or more current
psychological and/or physical health problem
 65% of women had experienced violence from a
punter in the last year. 35% from a partner.
 82% reported past or current involvement with CJS
 64% of women reported being homeless or in
temporary accommodation
 71% of women had children
 Cripplingly low self-esteem/ loss of self
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Bindel, Breslin & Brown, 2013
Societal Stigmas.. Prostitution and
Drug Use:
“I lack confidence, I feel like sometimes
everybody can tell that I’m on drugs and that I
might be selling myself. No self-esteem, I feel
worthless. I’m out there doing something
society frowns upon. I’ve got a lot of shame
and guilt that I’m doing it.” DrugScope & Ava, 2013
What biases do we as drugs
practitioners hold? Can we
comfortably talk about sex? – What
training do we provide to staff?
(Chemsex..)
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http://the-invisible-men.tumblr.com/
 Confusing
Legal Framework:
Prostitution is legal –
But:
Soliciting, kerb crawling,
sex in a public toilet,
disorderly behaviour,
keeping a brothel
are offences..
11% ↑in custodial sentences
88% for non-violent crimes
(VAWG 2013)
 How
to establish need?
“..the Drug Treatment Outcomes Research Study (2007) found that
10% of women commencing drug treatment said they had
exchanged sex for money, drugs or something else in the past four
weeks. While this may encompass more than what might be strictly
defined as street-based prostitution, it does indicate that the group
is likely to be sizeable.”
DrugScope & Ava 2013
Women involved in Street Based Prostitution are virtually absent from
all current policy..
The words: “Prostitution” “Sex Work” “Woman” and “Woman or Girl”
are completely absence from the 2010 National Drug Strategy…
DrugScope & Ava 2013
The VAWG Strategy 2013 states that the VAWG panel will be
drawing up “Commissioning Guidelines”..
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Changing Demographics:
• Rapid increase in nonBritish women selling street
based sex in London,
evidence of women and
girls under 18yrs selling sex
in London. And evidence
of women moving
between on-street and
off-street sites.
Bindle, Breslin & Brown, 2013
• Eastern European Women
using cocaine and alcohol,
the market is such that
“Partying” is a key aspect of
being booked for work. One
service reported how these
women would find accessing
a drug service particularly
difficult as they would not
identify themselves with other
drug users.
• Thai Women and Girls
known to services in
Westminster, being given
Crystal Meth to work and
brought to the UK with no
legal status – No recourse
to public funds.
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Relationships and trust are key to engaging
this client group..
Staff training – challenging the assumptions
Flexible/evening opening hours
Women’s only provision – really important.
Outreach – condoms, NX, relationship
building..
Childcare provision (or links to)
Actively advertise that you work with this
client group (Learning from LGBT inclusive
practice?)
Peer support and telephone support
Good referral pathways and partnership
links with housing, sexual health, Domestic
Violence services, Community Mental
Health Teams, GP Surgeries and
Employment, Education and Training
services.
 In a time of stretched resources are there
joint commissioning decisions which can be
made, what partnership work can be
done?
 Provide a range of treatment options..
Harm reduction and Exiting.. Who’s agenda
is it?
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I would like to say a big thank you
to:
The English Collective of Prostitutes
St Mungos Palace Road
SPIRES (Jenny & Pam)
SWISH
The Praed Street Project (Jane Ayres)
SHOC (Haringey)