At Glastonbury festival, I had the good fortune to meet Ruby Wax, and listen to her talk on mental health. There was so much I could relate to, like allowing oneself to be overwhelmed by mania. I’m certainly guilty, that email must be answered in the next five minutes in spite of the fact I give a twenty four hour turn around time on my website. The house must be immaculate, because the world will grind to a halt if the bathroom tiles have toothpaste on them. You get the picture. You see for me, there are two speeds – go and stop. Since I spent a sizable proportion of last year up to my waist in plaster, it’s been go ever since. If I’m being honest, I was worried about how stop would feel. Continue reading Laura Lee – Stigma Begone
All posts by Laura Lee
Laura Lee – A Letter From a Client
This week I was sent some correspondence from a Canadian client. Ordinarily I wouldn’t publish such personal detail, but I think it shows the humanity behind the those “evil purchasers of the bodies of prostituted persons”, and so with the writer’s permission, here it is. give me strength. Continue reading Laura Lee – A Letter From a Client
Laura Lee Guest Blog | A letter from an ally
Plans to criminalise clients of sex workers are unwanted, much more unwelcome than their supporters claim and are built on bad foundations. In the following paragraphs I will go through some of the reasons why. Continue reading Laura Lee Guest Blog | A letter from an ally
Lies, Damn Lies and TORL Statistics – Laura Lee
Following Stormont’s passing into law of Lord Morrow’s prohibitionist measure not so cunningly disguised as saving the victims of trafficking, it’s not surprising that the various anti sex work groups in the Republic have jumped on the back of that. Why, less than twenty four hours after the law came in, the ICI are claiming that this has already resulted in a mass exodus of sex workers across the border. Continue reading Lies, Damn Lies and TORL Statistics – Laura Lee
Laura Lee – Sex Workers Say No To Criminalisation
Today, June 1st, the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) expresses its serious concern on legislation criminalizing the purchase of sex now in effect in Northern Ireland. Continue reading Laura Lee – Sex Workers Say No To Criminalisation
Harm Reduction and HIV Ireland – Laura Lee
Unless you’ve had your head in a microwave for the past number of years, you may have noticed that the world’s leading health authorities have come out in favour of decriminalisation of sex work. There’s a good reason for that, it’s because harm reduction has been shown to be hugely effective in the control and reduction of instances of HIV. A pretty compelling reason, I’d say. In a recently released report entitled “Ten Reasons to Decriminalize Sex Work”, we’re told that “decriminalisation of sex workers could lead to 46% decline in new HIV infections over next decade”. That’s powerful. Continue reading Harm Reduction and HIV Ireland – Laura Lee
NI – A time for change
With the DUP once again sliding into a comfortable majority and the law to further criminalise sex work due on June 1st, there has never been a more pertinent time to look at sex workers’ rights in Northern Ireland. Continue reading NI – A time for change
Laura Lee Blog – Fishnet, A Book Review
Being inherently lazy, it’s seldom I feel compelled to write, well … anything really. Let alone a book review. But Fishnet, the debut novel of Kirstin Innes caused removal of The Cat from my keyboard at just slightly excessive speed. Continue reading Laura Lee Blog – Fishnet, A Book Review
The Laura Lee Blog | Au Revoir!
Sometimes, in my line of work as in many others, rude clients float to the surface. I should say that the most awful clients I ever experienced were in banking, because when you’re dealing with people and money, greed comes before all else. Suddenly the bank charges they incurred were my fault, personally. Like I took their money and spent it on caviar. Or call girls. Allegedly. Continue reading The Laura Lee Blog | Au Revoir!
Laura Lee Blog | Funding With a Capital F
Those of you who follow me on Twitter or have met me even once will know my favourite bug bear when it comes to sex workers’ “rescue” organisations is funding. Thousands upon thousands of pounds/Euros are poured into these organisations to “raise awareness”. It really annoys me, when you have women in Dublin in direct provision on nineteen Euros a week selling sex as a survival strategy and NGO’s swanning around in BMW’s, loudly declaring their dedication to help those poor, fallen women. Continue reading Laura Lee Blog | Funding With a Capital F