Decriminalise prostitution – it’s the best way to safeguard sex workers’ health

Sexual health nurse Louise Cahill explains why she asked RCN congress to back her call

There is mounting evidence that the decriminalisation of prostitution would improve sex workers’ health and safety.

A recent systematic review of the associations between sex work laws and sex workers’ health , led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, found that sex workers who had been subjected to recent arrest, prison or displacement were three times more likely to experience sexual or physical violence and twice as likely to have HIV and/or other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).