“What would you do if your son was at home
Crying all alone on the bedroom floor
‘Cause he’s hungry?
And the only way to feed him is to
Sleep with a man for a little bit of money” [City High]

What did you want to be when you grew up? A train driver? A hairdresser, or maybe a teacher? Perhaps you thought you could be a famous actor or model? Chances are you didn’t see yourself seeking out a living in risky or downright dangerous situations where your body was used for endless men’s sexual gratification.

In the British trade union movement, the idea that prostitution can be a normal job, where you choose your hours and your ‘clients’, has become prevalent. But is it really? When you scrape off the sugar-coating, many of the things we expect in the workplace, like career progression, standard health and safety provisions and protection from harassment simply do not exist. Who does it benefit when we position prostitution as regular work?

Come along to this event to hear from survivors and support workers about the reality of prostitution, the dangers of considering it a normal job, and why fully decriminalising the prostitution industry is not the solution.

This is a TUC Conference fringe event, but all are welcome whether you are a member or not.

Venue details

This public event will take place in a central Brighton venue, just a short walk from the Brighton Centre. We will email ticket holders with the details of the venue on the morning of the event. If you can’t see the email, please check your spam folders.

Ticket prices

Standard tickets are £5, concessionary tickets are £3. Entry is free for TUC Conference delegates with a flyer (which we will be distributing outside the conference centre during the day).

Please select the ticket price that best matches your financial circumstances. If you want to come but cannot afford a concessionary ticket, please email info@nordicmodelnow.org and we will endeavour to provide you with a free ticket.

Children and teenagers

We apologise that we are not running a creche at this event. While babes in arms are welcome (please take them outside the room if they cry), this event is not suitable for children.

We do encourage older teenagers to attend, but advise discretion with younger teenagers and require parental supervision for teenagers under 16.

Questions

There will be time for questions during the event, but you are welcome to email in advance any questions you would like the panel to consider. Please put ‘Event Question’ in the subject line and email it to info@nordicmodelnow.org. Time constraints mean we will be limited in how many questions we can address.

This is a mixed event

This event will include women talking about some of the worst forms of male violence. We ask everyone, but particularly men, to be mindful of this and how both speakers and members of the audience may find this triggering because it resonates with their own experiences of male violence. We ask everyone to be open and respectful.

Speakers

Esther. Esther has a longstanding interest in research on legal and public policy approaches to sexualised violence and domestic abuse. She uses her own experience of porn and prostitution to reflect on these issues.

Heli St Luce. Heli designs and facilitates interactive workshops for adults and businesses, she is a coach, aromatherapist and ceremony/ritual guide. As the child of an underage, immigrant, single mother she was witness to sexploitation first ‘saving’ her mother and then making her sick. “I’ve always wanted to change the world, working with NMN creates a real and valuable way to do that”.

Michelle. Michelle is a sexual exploitation and trafficking survivor from the UK. She is now a writer, teacher and mother.

Sarah Green. CEO of Women At The Well, an organisation that supports women who are affected by or at risk of sexual exploitation. Women’s organisations with specialist knowledge and experience in responding to sexual exploitation are key to any social and political change, but are hard to fund and make sustainable in the current policy and economic environment. Sarah has worked for more than 25 years in human rights and violence against women and girls campaigns and organisational development.

Emily Husain. Emily is a civil barrister and feminist who has volunteered with women’s organisations and groups addressing violence against women for several years. Emily has a particular interest in the domestic and international legislative framework surrounding prostitution and she joined NMN in 2023. Emily will chair the event.