PCC calls for sex work security check exemption

The Cleveland PCC said the "majority" of sex workers are victims.

A Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is backing a group fighting for sex work convictions to be exempt from security checks.

Cleveland's Labour PCC Matt Storey has come out in support of the English Collective of Prostitutes' (ECP) Proceed without Caution campaign which highlights the consequences of sex workers receiving criminal convictions.

The charity says having to disclose a conviction for DBS checks and other security measures makes it harder for those who want to leave sex work.

Storey said: "It is necessary to recognise that the vast majority of sex workers are victims, not criminals."

Two-thirds of the women the ECP approached said a sex work-related conviction had been the reason they found it hard to gain employment in civil society.

"Many just want to move on with their lives and be finally free from their often-traumatic past experiences and the unjust stigma they have endured for decades," said Storey.

He said he feels sex workers "should have the right to live their lives free from judgement, fear and humiliation".

The PCC has written to to the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips, and Justice Secretary, Shabana Mamood, calling on the government to make sex work convictions exempt from disclosure during DBS checks.

The Home Office and Ministry of Justice have been approached for comment.