Call for end to draconian police cautions for sex workers
December 9, 2024 4:07 PM Subscribe
Call for end to draconian police cautions for sex workers that last until age of 100.
Police in England and Wales should be banned from issuing a draconian caution that exclusively targets sex workers, both politicians and campaigners have said. A "prostitute’s caution," unlike other police cautions, does not require a person to admit to an offence or agree to accept it. Police can issue them to anyone they have "reasonable cause" to believe has broken prostitution laws, meaning little evidence is required.
Police cautions, which are typically issued for minor crimes, are filtered out from someone’s record after six years and do not need to be disclosed to employers, but a prostitute’s caution will show up on a sex worker’s enhanced DBS check until they are 100 years old.
Hardy questioned some of the "reasonable causes" presented by police. "I remember one case where the officer said he’d seen her talking to a man," said Hardy. "When [the police officer] approached, the man walked away. That was the evidence. It’s not the sort of thing that would stand up in court."
Women told the ECP report that they had been issued with the cautions when they weren’t working, and in one case when the recipient wasn’t even a sex worker.
The research on how cautions affect employment opportunities looked at jobs that are more commonly done by women, as most sex workers are women. These jobs include carers, childminders, community centre workers, medical professionals, social workers and teachers. All of these jobs require enhanced DBS checks for employment.
"There are jobs I’ve been offered and had to say no to," one woman told the report. "Social services asked if I’d considered doing emergency respite. It’s excellent money and would have suited my life and skills. But I couldn’t even think about it as they would have done the checks and found out."
Police cautions, which are typically issued for minor crimes, are filtered out from someone’s record after six years and do not need to be disclosed to employers, but a prostitute’s caution will show up on a sex worker’s enhanced DBS check until they are 100 years old.
Hardy questioned some of the "reasonable causes" presented by police. "I remember one case where the officer said he’d seen her talking to a man," said Hardy. "When [the police officer] approached, the man walked away. That was the evidence. It’s not the sort of thing that would stand up in court."
Women told the ECP report that they had been issued with the cautions when they weren’t working, and in one case when the recipient wasn’t even a sex worker.
The research on how cautions affect employment opportunities looked at jobs that are more commonly done by women, as most sex workers are women. These jobs include carers, childminders, community centre workers, medical professionals, social workers and teachers. All of these jobs require enhanced DBS checks for employment.
"There are jobs I’ve been offered and had to say no to," one woman told the report. "Social services asked if I’d considered doing emergency respite. It’s excellent money and would have suited my life and skills. But I couldn’t even think about it as they would have done the checks and found out."
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