A response to Tonia Antoniazzi MPs parliamentary statement

3 July 2025

On June 18th Tonia Antoniazzi MP addressed parliament to discuss her proposed amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill. We welcome her work to decriminalise abortion and efforts to repeal the offence of "loitering or soliciting for the purposes of prostitution". But we are not distracted from other elements of her ongoing political work that would increase violence against sex workers — especially those who are intersectionally stigmatised, including migrants, trans and disabled workers.

The language that Tonia Antoniazzi MPs uses is inflammatory and misleading. In Parliament she insisted that women who use websites to advertise their services and screen clients for safety are part of a 'supercharg[ed] sex trafficking trade'. This is irresponsible and inaccurate. Extensive operations by police forces across the UK have failed to produce evidence that would support this statement.

Tonia Antoniazzi MP also spoke of 'online mega-brothels' driven by the demand of clients. Sex workers - especially women and single mothers - have spoken out time and again to emphasise that poverty and precarity underpin sex work. Even a 2019 Work and Pensions Committee Inquiry found that women are driven to survival sex work due caps on Universal Credit. But Tonia Antoniazzi MP voted in favour of keeping the two child cap on Universal Credit when given an opportunity to abolish it in July last year! On that very same day, she spoke in parliament about the need to "protect women and girls".

This week, along with Swansea East's Carolyn Harris MP, Tonia Antoniazzi MP voted with the government in favour of a £2 billion cut to the Universal Credit health element hitting 750,000 new claimants.

We are calling out this hypocrisy. Both Tonia Antoniazzi MP and Carolyn Harris MP are consistently working to implement policies that have been demonstrated to increase violence against sex workers. Research by Amnesty International found that the 2017 introduction of laws that criminalise clients in Northern Ireland has had a 'chilling effect' on the human rights of sex workers. Tonia Antoniazzi MP described this model as 'excellent practice'.

We reject Welsh MPs consistent misrepresentation of the social and economic realities that surround participation in sex work. Acknowledging that poverty and precarity underpin sex work is not glamorising prostitution. Our effort should be on targeting resources to women to empower them to refuse prostitution if they choose. Our MPs should not be advocating for policies that have been demonstrated to increase violence against our communities.

Oppose clauses NC2 and NC3 of the Crime and Policing Bill 2025

18 June 2025

There are an estimated 72,800 sex workers in the UK, with at least 2471 based in Wales. Sex work is identified in all 22 local authority areas of Wales and is most concentrated in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. Nationally, the majority of sex workers are women (85–90%), most of whom are mothers working to support families.

Prostitution is not itself an offence in England and Wales, but sex workers are prosecuted for related offences such as soliciting, brothel keeping or living off immoral earnings.

The English Collective of Prostitutes have shown that sex work is increasing because poverty is increasing. In Wales, almost a quarter of people are living in poverty with women disproportionately affected. Wales now has the worst child poverty rate of all the UK nations, with 31% of children living below the poverty line. But rather than focusing on and addressing the social and economic conditions that push people into sex work, UK politicians are proposing changes to the law that would harm sex workers.

Proposed amendments to the crime and policing bill increase the criminalisation of sex work. Among the proposed changes is an amendment to repeal the offence of “loitering or soliciting for the purposes of prostitution”. This has long been called for by sex workers. But it appears to be a concession that masks a series of further amendments that would function to collectively harm sex workers.

Clause NC2 targets so-called third parties. Its broad definition means anyone who associates with a sex worker could be prosecuted for commercial sexual exploitation. This clause would also criminalise advertising sites which sex workers depend on to work independently and in greater safety.

Clause NC3 criminalises clients by making it illegal to pay for or provide any benefit in exchange for sexual services. Its backers argue that this would reduce demand. But there is evidence from countries that have implemented this model – often called the “Nordic model” – that suggests otherwise.

Research shows that criminalisation pushes sex work further underground, making it harder for workers to stay safe. When clients fear detection, sex workers lose time to screen for risk, are pushed into isolated environments and are less likely to report violence. This increases their proximity to harm.

Continued efforts to further criminalise sex workers will cause considerable harm. Sexual exploitation is already a crime. Further criminalising and reframing all sex work as exploitation does nothing to tackle poverty, inadequate welfare provision, or restrictive immigration policies. These are the types of factors that often keep people in sex work.

In 2019, a House of Commons committee found that mothers were being driven into “survival sex” by the two-child cap on universal credit, leaving them struggling to support their families.

The charity Child Poverty Action Group last year reported that most of the 440,000 families affected by the cap were living in poverty. Numerous sex worker campaign groups argue that abolishing the cap would lift families out of financial precarity, enabling sex workers to refuse clients or leave the industry if they wished.

Some of the politicians proposing amendments to the crime and policing bill – including Diana Johnson, and Welsh MPs Carolyn Harris and Tonia Antoniazzi – have opposed measures that would provide genuine economic support to those most at risk. When given the chance to vote to abolish the two-child cap on universal credit in July 2024, they chose not to.

On the very same day, they spoke in parliament about the need to “protect women and girls”. But rather than lifting them out of poverty, the same politicians choose instead to continually push for the further criminalisation of sex work.

We are calling for the provision of greater resources directly to economically-marginalised communities and the full decriminalisation of sex work. Full decriminalisation would enable sex workers to work collectively for safety without fear of prosecution and is an important step for harm-reduction.

In New Zealand, where sex work was decriminalised in 2003, there has been no rise in prostitution or trafficking. But workers have greater power to report violence and exit the industry if they choose.

In Belgium, decriminalisation has gone further. Sex workers now have labour rights, including pensions, maternity leave and the right to refuse clients.

If UK politicians are serious about promoting the rights and wellbeing of sex workers, they should address poverty, social inequality and restrictive immigration laws. Sex workers need rights and policies that reflect their lives to reduce their proximity to harm, not further criminalisation.

Introducing Safety First Wales!

1 July 2023

The Safety First Wales coalition has launched this month aiming to decriminalise sex work and ensure that sex workers’ safety, health, and well-being are prioritised in Wales.

Our briefing paper documents the experiences of sex workers in our network and contains proposals for change, many of which could be immediately implemented by the Senedd.

Please support us by signing and sharing our petition that demands:

1. The decriminalisation of sex work to improve sex workers’ health, safety and welfare.
2. The provision of financial support for sex workers wishing to exit sex work.

Please check back for more news and updates soon.