Reaction to a spate of murders

One story has dominated the news here in the UK for the past few days.

This week we have learned of the violent deaths of at least three, probably more, young women who made their living as prostitutes in Ipswich, Suffolk. The serial killing of sex workers is a problem that returns to haunt us every so often. But unless we are facing the grim reality of a spate of grisly and sadistic murders, we are too ready to pretend this problem does not exist. It is easy to kick the unpleasant aspects of life under the table.

The fact is prostitutes are being murdered and violated all the time. A single murder is so commonplace it hardly makes the national news. Oh well, they're only "prozzers" aren't they, low rent street girls, crack hos? Their very existence is enough to offend the delicate sensibilities of the morally righteous and so, forced to go below the radar, these women (and men) find themselves living outside the protection of the law.

We must remember though, sex workers are people first and prostitutes only through circumstance. Those for whom commercial sex is a voluntary career choice tend to operate at the high end of the market because they are good looking, articulate, well dressed and well mannered. All these things add up to make choices to do with self preservation available to them.

It is harder to see the street girls of Ipswich as people we can warm to. But they are human beings.

Since the eighteenth century, politicians and opinion makers of all flavours have been trading on piety and yet for all their preachy words and moralising pamphlets, drunkenness, drugs and prostitution will not go away. They are linked, the punters are often drunks, the girls are not insatiable nymphs but young women who have been lured into addiction by pimps and dealers so they are virtual slaves. It is high (sorry, no pun intended) time we all stopped being hypocritical about prostitution and drugs and demanded decriminalisation of drug users and of brothels and street sex workers. Then the addicts can get help and not be forced to subject themselves to risk in order to to fund their habit and the more enlightened councils in concert with the police can establish safe zones where girls, freed from the fear of prosecution may operate with some degree of protection.

Unfortunately it always takes the activities of a serial killer to bring this debate into the open. But should five violent deaths be needed to trigger our awareness? If one human being dies alone, in pain and terror because society has failed to protect a vulmerable minority, it is one too many.

This time we must make sure polite society faces up to the realities of life. Prostitutes are people too.