{"id":814,"date":"2021-07-26T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jointpublicissues.org.uk\/?p=10528"},"modified":"2021-07-26T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-26T09:00:00","slug":"the-effect-of-covid-19-on-women-who-sell-sex-or-are-sexually-exploited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/standrewsurcrustington.org.uk\/?p=814","title":{"rendered":"The effect of Covid-19 on women who sell sex or are sexually exploited"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In May 2021, the Joint Public Issues Team published research with the charity Beyond the Streets into the effect of Covid-19 on women who are sexually exploited or sell sex.<\/strong> The issue was brought up at a focus group with local churches and communities which JPIT ran around a year ago, when we were still getting to grips with the impacts of Covid-19. My colleague Paul has written about how we came to undertake this research in more depth here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When I was asked to help out with researching the project
\nearly on in my internship, I was confronted by my own ignorance \u2013 this wasn\u2019t a
\ntopic where I had prior knowledge or insight. As it turned out, that in itself
\nwas telling. What became increasingly clear during our research period was that
\nthis was a group of people who have been persistently forgotten \u2013 not just by
\nthe public, but in policy responses by government as well. Littered throughout
\nour research was one word in particular: trauma. <\/p>\n

Not all women who sell sex are dealing with past or
\npersistent trauma. But for the support agencies we talked to, many of whom work
\nprimarily with women facing multiple disadvantage, trauma looms large as an
\nongoing reality. Not only does trauma adversely affect mental health, but it
\nalso makes it much more difficult for women to engage with and access support
\nservices \u2013 including those which were introduced to alleviate the worst effects
\nof the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Trauma doesn\u2019t only make it harder for women to access
\nservices, and it didn\u2019t simply deepen the effect of problems caused by lockdown
\nand the pandemic. The pandemic in itself had what one respondent called a
\n\u2018re-traumatising effect\u2019 \u2013 deepening the cycle of difficulty faced by some
\nwomen who sell sex or are sexually exploited. <\/p>\n

One of the Joint Public Issues Team\u2019s Six Hopes for Society
\nis for a just economy
\nthat enables the flourishing of all life<\/a>. Another is for a society where the
\npoorest and most marginalised are at the centre<\/a>. At the heart of both of
\nthese hopes is a belief in the dignity of all human life \u2013 a belief that God
\ncares for and loves all people, and that Jesus came so that we could have life
\nin all its fullness (John 10:10).<\/p>\n

If people in our society are unable to access the services that they need to live a safe, healthy, and fulfilled life, then they are not experiencing life in all its fullness. If people in our society are homeless or in unstable housing, they are not experiencing life in all its fullness. And if people in our society are experiencing the re-traumatising effects of lockdown, then they are not experiencing life in all its fullness. <\/p>\n

We pursued this work because, as churches, we believe that
\nthe way our society is run can be better: more compassionate and more
\nChrist-like. It\u2019s not right that the impacts of lockdown fell more squarely
\nonto the shoulders of people who were already struggling, including women who
\nsell sex or are sexually exploited, particularly those who have experienced
\ntrauma.<\/p>\n

We identified a set of issues which were specifically
\naffecting this group of women. Food insecurity, income loss, isolation and
\nhousing problems, as well as decreased access to services, were all issues
\nwhich were flagged. We noted that many people in society were facing similar
\nproblems \u2013 but for many of the women supported by the charities we spoke to,
\nthe exacerbating factor of trauma amplified and deepened these problems. You
\ncan read our
\nfull findings<\/a> and a
\nsummary of the report<\/a> here.<\/p>\n

One of the issues which we encountered during this research
\nwas that women who sell sex or are sexually exploited often needed more and
\ndifferent support to access benefits, including Universal Credit. Churches have
\nlong advocated for a more compassionate benefits system, which offers enough for
\npeople to live in dignity and safety. This means more than simply increasing
\nthe weekly payment to a liveable amount \u2013 although, of course, this is vital \u2013
\nit\u2019s also about ensuring that the benefits system accounts for differences in
\ncircumstances. In this case, it might mean that the application process needs
\nto be more accommodating of acting through an intermediary charity like the
\nones we spoke to as part of our research, and that trauma-informed approaches
\nneed to be layered into the ways that the benefits system works. The report
\nshows that the benefits system disproportionately sanctions those with mental
\nhealth problems: the system fails to cope when presented with claimants who may
\nbe experiencing multiple disadvantage or other complications.<\/p>\n

Public services, including benefits like Universal Credit,
\nneed to be available and truly accessible to all who might need them if they
\nare to be adequate and meaningful. To enable life in all its fullness, we must
\ncater for the most marginalised in our communities in the way that we relate to
\none another and provide services as a society. If women who sell sex or are
\nsexually exploited are excluded from policy and understanding, we\u2019ve failed to
\nopen up our society and support systems to everyone who might need it.<\/p>\n

Our report goes into more detail about the experiences which we heard about and the solutions which might begin to redress a historic failure to consider the impact of trauma when accessing services.<\/p>\n

Read the report<\/a><\/p>\n

My colleague Paul has written a blog summarising the research and explaining the process of writing the report. You can read it here: <\/p>\n

Read Paul\u2019s blog<\/a><\/p>\n

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In May 2021, the Joint Public Issues Team published research with the charity Beyond the Streets into the effect of Covid-19 on women who are sexually exploited or sell sex. The issue was brought up at a focus group with … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-urc-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t