Leading councillor says 'exit strategy' needed for Stockton sex workers
A leading councillor has told of a year's work to tackle issues surrounding sex workers, saying she understood residents' concerns but she had "a pen, not a magic wand".
Councillor Norma Stephenson, Stockton Council's cabinet member for Access, Communities and Community Safety, said recent events, which included a protest involving residents and councillors on Yarm Road and Spring Street, had upset organisations who were working on the complex issue. She said they were "a long way down the line", and a new officer post would be taking the lead tackling issues important to the community, but warned it could not be solved overnight.
She was responding to a question from Ropner ward councillor Sufi Mubeen, who said the strategy needed to change as the "horrendous situation" had got worse, not better. He asked at a full council meeting what action had been taken "to address the sex workers plying their trade on the streets of the Ropner and town centre wards".
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Cllr Stephenson said: "We are aware of the challenges with the sex workers in Ropner ward and the town centre, and over the past year we have been working in close partnership with our community, all our partner agencies and local councillors, to come up with a long-term solution to what is a very complex matter."
She said they successfully bid for Safer Streets funding a year ago, supporting "Operation Nightfall" which gathered intelligence. She said issues had been under-reported before and police had "very little information on sex workers in Ropner", but ward surgeries and conversations with councillors and residents "revealed the true extent of the long-standing problems in the area".
She told how Cleveland Police listened to community concerns, began dedicated patrols and intervened where women were in danger while CCTV operators alerted police to potential offenders and identified suspects: "We also funded the charity A Way Out to support sex workers and attach an officer from our community safety team to work alongside them in problem-solving and interventions with women at risk of exploitation in the area."
She said they also got funding from the Cleveland Unit for Reducing Violence (CURV) for research with residents, businesses and sex workers to understand the impact of sex work in Ropner.
'Addiction is an issue'
"It's important to consider that sex workers are victims of much wider exploitation and are also members of our community, to which we owe an equal duty of care. From this research it is clear that addiction is an issue, and that many are involved in sex work to fund addiction and are living in hunger and poverty.
"Some are homeless or living out of inadequate housing. The full report has been shared with police and partners including local councillors.
"An action plan has been created and a new problem-solving and partnership officer post established through joint partnership funding which will be leading on the continued work to tackle the issues important to the community. There is no quick solution and this was made perfectly clear at the start of this project.
"But we do now have a sound evidence base from the multi-agency intelligence-gathering which has taken place and the research conducted." She said they would continue to talk to the community and councillors through surgeries and a variety of officers at family hub drop-ins.
She added councillors had "regular briefings from civic enforcement, sat around the table with senior police officers". And she said a full report had been shared with them through Project Harmony, which aims to reduce crime and improve people's lives in the ward.
Cllr Mubeen said despite everything, "the action to tackle the horrendous situation that residents in both of these wards have to suffer on a daily basis... the situation has not improved. It has become worse. And the council and other authorities need to change their strategy in order to provide a safe community for the residents."
Cllr Stephenson replied: "I do agree with you that it's a problem. But I also agreed with you when this first started. This is a pen, not a magic wand. You accepted this wouldn't happen overnight, councillor.
"I can understand how the residents feel and I know it is a problem. But we're a long way down the line. What's happened over the last week or so has upset a lot of organisations that have put time and effort and money into this. We'll stick with it, we'll keep going. You can't stop the sex workers overnight. It's working with them and getting an exit for them, an exit strategy."
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