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Legalise Brothels, British Nurses Plead

by Gopalan on May 14 2009 1:41 PM

Legalize brothels please, British nurses have pleaded. That is the way to protect women from violence and also reduce sexually transmitted diseases, says the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

Only it suggests the number of women operating from such brothels be restricted to fou.

Decriminalising groups of sex-workers who band together would make their working lives safer, delegates at the RCN's annual congress in Harrogate heard.

The "stigma" which surrounds working girls means many are afraid to visit their doctors or local hospital and leaves them vulnerable to attacks, as seen with the murder of five prostitutes in Ipswich in 2006.

Carol Watts, a nurse from Cambridgeshire, who proposed the motion, said: "The simple truth is that there will always be people willing to pay for sex with others without commitment.

"We should acknowledge that that is part of life in the UK and should make sure that there is not an underclass of marginalised women in the country.

She added: "Perhaps the stigma of being a working girl can be reduced over time and we will remove our morality goggles."

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Legalising brothels would make it easier for sex workers to get free condoms and screening for sexually-transmitted diseases, the conference heard.

However, Sue Haworth, another nurse, said that more needed to be done to deal with the problems of drug addiction, Telegraph reported.

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She said: "We need to get real about the problems of prostitutes.

"We need to get more real about getting systems in this country to support women and advise them to get out of this dreadful life rather than support them to choose to be a prostitute."

At the moment anyone convicted of running a brothel can face up to seven years in prison.

A spokesman for the Home Office said: “We are determined to shift the focus onto the sex buyer, the person responsible for creating the demand for prostitution markets which in turn creates demand for the vile trade of women being trafficked for sexual exploitation.”



Source-Medindia
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