Latest news with #FionaBroadfoot
BBC News
9 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Child sexual exploitation survivor was left with criminal record
A woman groomed and abused as a teenager has said she welcomed the news that criminal convictions of victims of child sexual exploitation would be announcement came after Baroness Louise Casey's report into grooming gangs recommended quashing any convictions where victims were criminalised instead of Broadfoot, who said she was forced into prostitution when she was 15, had previously told the BBC she had carried convictions for soliciting throughout her Tuesday, Ms Broadfoot, from Bradford, said: "I've spent a long time being abused and criminalised." She was forced to sell sex on the streets by a "boyfriend" who became her pimp. and only escaped prostitution aged Monday, the review into abuse carried out by grooming gangs in England and Wales was recommendations, including the launch of a national inquiry, have been made by the report's author - all of which have been accepted by the minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously dismissed calls for a national inquiry, arguing the issues had already been examined in a seven-year investigation by Prof Alexis Jay. Baroness Casey's report also recommended tightening the law in England and Wales so adults received mandatory rape charges if they had sex with a child aged under the age of consent being 16, it said there were too many examples of child sexual exploitation cases being dropped or downgraded from rape to lesser charges where a child said they had been "in love with" or "consented to" sex with their Broadfoot, who was trafficked between London and Edinburgh, said perpetrators had been allowed to "do what they want" and vulnerable people had been criminalised."I've had to live with a criminal record and that had a huge impact on me trying to rebuild my life, go to university, even to go on my son's school's parents' and teachers' association," the founder of the Build a Girl charity project said."I mean, I speak about my experiences, but some people, they can't speak out, and that holds them back and causes a lot of distress." With news of new local inquiries - one to be held in Oldham and four in other areas yet to be named, but which could include Bradford - Ms Broadfoot said she was sceptical about how much action would actually be taken."I've been here before, I've been a campaigner and activist for 30 years, speaking up against the exploitation and grooming of girls," she said."I've heard reports before and recommendations, and it just worries me that it's going to gather dust on a shelf and we're not going to implement it."Elsewhere, Abrar Javid, project manager at Rotherham Muslim Community Forum raised similar questions over whether a new national inquiry would bring the results previous investigations had failed to deliver. "I remember when there was an investigation into our local council in Rotherham and the only thing that came out was 'lessons will be learned'," he said."Nobody was really held accountable, so in that regard I hope it's a lot more robust."Mr Javid said since the Jay Report in 2014, Rotherham had been struggling with division in the town."We were actually the first community - the Muslim community - that came out to rally for justice for the victims before any far-right party came and descended here and spewed a lot of their hatred," he said."We've said it right from the start that it doesn't matter which community they [criminals] are from, they need to be dealt with and there needs to be justice for the victims." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Scotsman
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
Why I owe prostitution survivor an apology and am backing Ash Regan's 'Unbuyable' Bill
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I have an apology to make to Fiona Broadfoot, the courageous woman who spoke out this week in support of the newly published bill to overhaul the laws on prostitution. I have never met Fiona, though our lives have crossed. Thirty years ago, she was trapped in prostitution in an Edinburgh brothel. As she told this newspaper, she was raped every day by 'ordinary men'. 'These were not dirty old men in raincoats. They were teachers, doctors and lawyers, and they could do exactly what they wanted because there was no accountability,' she said. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Thirty years ago, I was a young Edinburgh councillor and a member of the city's licensing committee. To my now shame, my colleagues and I – from all parties – would regularly grant saunas an 'entertainment' license, knowing full well they were brothels. Everyone in the magnificent committee room knew what they were doing. We were giving permission to men to abuse vulnerable women. Ash Regan MSP, right, has unveiled a private members' bill in the Scottish Parliament that would make buying sex a criminal offence (Picture: Andrew Milligan) | PA Convinced by 'lipstick' feminists The police and fire chiefs who gave their reports on the health and safety aspects of the application knew. The council officials on hand to guide us through any potential legal hiccups knew. And the councillors, elected by the people to ostensibly build a better city, one where all its citizens were valued, knew. I certainly did. We had been persuaded by the prevailing wisdom of the time that women like Fiona were safer in a brothel on the ground floor of a city centre tenement than walking the dark streets of Leith. Senior police officers told us so. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad And as a young woman, I was convinced by 'lipstick' feminists, fashionable in the 1990s, who argued that a woman's sexuality was empowering – hers to do with what she liked. I swallowed the lie that prostitution was valid work, no different to selling make-up in Jenners or cleaning offices. How wrong I was. How naïve. How careless. When I read Fiona's description of life as a young woman trapped in prostitution, in part because of my well-meaning naivety, I was distraught at the damage I helped wreak on her life and on those of hundreds of other women, abused with the explicit permission of the city council. 'We were treated like animals, and this was all licensed by Edinburgh City Council, but not one person came to check on us,' she said this week. I am profoundly sorry Fiona, and I hope one day to meet you in person so I can apologise to you properly for the hurt and damage caused by our misguided views on prostitution. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Nordic Model Today, I agree with the Scottish Government's approach. Its violence against women strategy could not be clearer – prostitution is abusive and will not be tolerated. 'Those perpetrating exploitation (such as sex buyers and profiteers) will be held to account,' promised the government in a policy paper published three years ago. Impatient for change, Alba MSP Ash Regan this week unveiled her private members' bill which, if passed, will make buying sex a criminal offence. It follows the principles of the Nordic Model, first adopted in Sweden in 1999. As well as criminalising the purchase of sexual acts, it decriminalises selling, removes previous prostitution offences from a woman's record and promises support for women to exit and recover from 'the life' as many describe it. Some Tory, Labour and SNP MSPs have already backed the bill, but as yet no ministers have expressed public support, even though Regan's bill is effectively government policy. However, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes did confirm her 'long-standing interest' in the Nordic Model this week. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Opponents of the bill insist that it is dangerous and will expose women in prostitution to even more violence and exploitation. Campaign group Scotland for Decrim say that only full decriminalisation will protect women's safety and human rights and give them the power to 'choose when and how we work'. Trafficked and raped But what power does a vulnerable teenage girl have over a man who has paid her a few pounds for oral sex? What power does a woman with a costly drug habit have when she is forced to have sex with 20 men in a 12-hour shift for fear of being beaten by her pimp? What power did 15-year-old Fiona Broadfoot have when she was trafficked for sex, raped every day by men whose lives were not affected by buying sexual services, while her mental and physical health was at severe risk? There may be some women who are able to disassociate themselves from the act of being abused for cash. Lily Philips achieved notoriety after live-streaming herself having sex with 101 men in one day. She told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire that people don't need to worry about her. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It really is my choice and I'm not being abused,' she said. Except she is. Sauna. Back streets. Online. The venue may change; the sexual exploitation doesn't. Daughters, sisters, mothers As Regan said when launching her bill, prostitution is not a job like any another. 'It is a system of commercial sexual exploitation that targets the vulnerable, is driven by demand and is enabled by silence… buying sexual access to a human being is a form of male violence.' Holyrood has from time to time grappled with the ethics of prostitution. The late Margo MacDonald lodged two bills in parliament to better manage street prostitution. Both failed. In 2012, Labour's Rhoda Grant introduced a bill similar to Regan's which also failed through lack of cross-party support. As Regan gets ready to take her 'Unbuyable' campaign across Scotland over the summer months, Scotland's politicians need to consider their own position. Would they want their daughter or mother or sister to earn a living by selling sex to strangers?
Scotsman
20-05-2025
- Scotsman
Edinburgh MSP's Bill to criminalise purchase of sex: Former prostitute tells of daily fears
A woman who was a prostitute in Edinburgh in the early 1990s has told how she feared every day that she would be murdered. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Fiona Broadfoot, who describes herself as a sex trade survivor, now runs the Build a Girl project, a survivor-led social enterprise working with young women at risk of, or experiencing, sexual exploitation. And she is supporting Edinburgh Eastern MSP Ash Regan's bid to change the law in Scotland to make buying sex a criminal offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment. Fiona Broadfoot spoke first hand of the horrors of prostitution | TSPL Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Speaking at the launch of Ms Regan's Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill, Ms Broadfoot said: "I entered the sex industry when I was 15 years of age, trafficked from my home town to London, I spent 11 years entrenched in the life. 'Every day I thought I was going to be murdered, every day I experienced rape by ordinary men whose lives were not impacted for one second like the women and girls they used. It was many, many years ago, but the impact is lifelong." And she continued: "I was a prostitute in a brothel in Edinburgh that had an entertainments licence. "Men came in and out on their lunch hours, their dinner hours, on their way home to their families. I don't suppose it was ever a topic of conversation around the dinner table. They were secret, hidden men and there are thousands and thousands of them. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I can't even begin to think of the number of men who bought my body and used it for their own sexual gratification. "Men's lives are not impacted. We have to bring them into the public eye and hold them accountable for what they are doing." The Bill aims to reduce prostitution in Scotland by criminalising the purchase of sexual acts whie decriminalising those who sell them. And it would establish a statutory right to support for individuals involved in prostitution to help them to leave the industry by ensuring housing, financial aid, counselling and health care. Ms Broadfoot said many of the women she worked alongside in Edinburgh 30 years ago had been trafficked. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She said: "We all stayed in the same bed and breakfast and there were women from Malaysia, Thailand, the UK and other places. "We were treated like animals. We had to put the customer first and forget what we were made to feel like. And this was licensed by Edinburgh City Council - but I was there for 18 months and no-one ever came to check on us." And she said: "None of the men were dirty old men in raincoats - they were teachers, doctors, lawyers, no doubt politicians and police officers, and they knew they could do exactly what they wanted with no accountability. We were the ones left feeling like pieces of meat at the end of the day." Ms Regan, who was elected as an SNP MSP but later defected to Alba, said prostitution was an issue that had been ignored for too long. "It's something that's often kept in the shadows, something that the public and politicians don't really want to think about. It's well past time that we did look at it properly. This is modern slavery that's being carried out in Scotland." Edinburgh Eastern MSP Ash Regan's Bill would criminalise the purchase of sexual acts. Picture: Getty Images. | Getty Images Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She said although there were existing laws against kerb-crawling, about 90 per cent of prostitution in Scotland had now moved indoors, so the law needed to be updated. "Very few women are now arrested for prostitution offences, I want to go a lot further, decriminalise the women altogether and then expunge any criminal record they have to do with prostitution." She said there was time for the Bill to get through the Scottish Parliament before next year's elections. Previous attempts to make similar changes to the law had failed to attract the required cross-party support to progress. "The first gauge I have of interest in this by colleagues is the fact that I received that cross-party support within two days and exceeded the target of 18 - I got 25." Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She said there were an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 women involved in prostitution in Scotland "We have to assume that many of them are going to be trafficked. The top countries are places like Vietnam, Nigeria and Eastern Europe. "Many of them have to be coerced to take part in this, have no real idea of what they're getting into, don't speak the language and have had their documents and passports taken away from them. "As this debate goes on, we need to remember that the voices which suggest prostitution is empowering or a career choice, they are not the real face of this industry. 'The real face of this industry is an under-age girl from Eastern Europe or Nigeria who does not want to be there and is being horribly abused and some studies show that when she comes out of that - and the average time in the industry is seven years - she will have PTSD at a higher rate than combat veterans."
