I've written on this subject before, and as such you may feel some element of repetition, however last night's program about the WI calling for safer spaces for prostitutes means now is the perfect time to talk again about the decriminalisation of the work and indeed how counter-productive the talk Harriet Harman gave at the beginning of the year is.

If you missed the show then I'm sure it'll be repeated but between this report and this one you get a good idea of what went on. I will say right now that I was absolutely surprised and was glad to have some of my perceptions shook, not in that of the brothels around the world and how they operate, but that those whom I assumed would be naturally opposed to prostitution (being the WI) were actually extremely tuned in to the necessity for promoting safety and rights in the "trade".

I said it in the past, there is no reasonable argument for not at least exploring/trialling a legalisation of brothels. I would not be surprised that the police and authorities in areas with brothels running illegally, such as one shown in the show, know exactly what is going on but don't intervene unless they cause a wider social problem in the area. If this is the case, as I believe it to be, then it is a hypocritical situation to be in.

I can't blame the police, and in all fairness if they are making such a stance on operational grounds I applaud them as it only makes sense to put your resources where it's needed. But is it really just that the women in those brothels can't rely on those same people for protection if something goes wrong? On all sides, women working, the police, even owners of brothels that wish to be reputable, they're having their hands tied to create a bad situation.

I understand there is an argument some have, particularly feminists, that prostitution is an oppressive and misogynistic practice that is inherently degrading to women. It's an opinion, one I don't agree with, but summarily misses the reality of the situation when those same people call for more clamp downs on prostitution such as Harriet Harman suggested. If you care about women's rights and equality then the way to achieve that is not to force those that are already being persecuted, oppressed and forced to do things they don't like to be treated further as criminals (and let's not kid ourselves that by just criminalising the male side women involved won't by proxy become more criminal). To clamp down and be tougher on this "industry" would only hurt the rights of the females involved, make them less accessible to the support they need and further push money into the hands of true criminals and sex traffickers.

Feminists against this type of work, and other prostitution haters, get on board this campaign like the WI have, support the Hampshire WI in trying to get this resolution for safer spaces for working girls passed in the 2009 national WI conference. Then once we've started to achieve a situation where criminal involvement in prostitution is squeezed out through regulation, and safety is increased for those involved, we can start to argue about the more lofty issues of misogyny being promoted through the sex industry. At least that way many more women won't be being beaten, raped, murdered and left with life long diseases while you fail to get off your high horses.