RT Article
T1 Policing vulnerability in sex work: the harm reduction compass model
JF Policing and society
VO 31
IS 9
SP 1100
OP 1116
A1 Sanders, Teela
A2 Vajzovic, Dan
A2 Brooks-Gordon, Belinda
A2 Mulvihill, Natasha
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1776231228
AB This paper explores the current approach to the interaction between policing and sex work in England and Wales. It reviews the legal and policy context and outlines current policing guidance and priorities, introducing the Harm Reduction Compass as a mechanism to advance policing policy and optimise operational decision-making. Through critical discussion of occupational culture and reforms in policing, it also assesses how continuity, reliability, and transferability can be achieved across police forces within the existing hostile and outdated statutory framework. The Harm Reduction Compass (HRC) aims to focus policing resources on adult sexual exploitation and crimes experienced by sex workers by decoding the complexities of different individuals’ personal circumstances. This paper proposes a new framework as a model to aid operational policing by triaging different scenarios to reach the most appropriate response. This new model, which identifies autonomy and harm as the most significant indicators, addresses harm and vulnerability holistically and combines policing with public health and community-based approaches; this ensures the pathway to assistance and intervention is an integrated multi-partnership. The HRC is a step forward in progressing police culture around the use of language and in dealing with crimes against sex workers in the most appropriate way.
K1 Vulnerability
K1 Policing
K1 Prostitution
K1 sex work
DO 10.1080/10439463.2020.1837825