E77: I was charged with Brothel Keeping Part 1 My Story

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One knock on the door changed everything. Twenty police officers with a battering ram stood ready to break down my door – all because I, a dominatrix, had created a safe workspace with security measures and safety equipment.

Safety shouldn't be criminal. Yet here in the UK, sex workers face an impossible choice: work alone and risk violence, or work together and risk arrest. This raw, emotional episode takes you through my journey of being charged with "brothel keeping"  not for exploitation, trafficking, or harm, but simply for trying to survive in a system designed to keep us vulnerable.

I share the gut-wrenching details of my police raid, from being paraded in front of neighbors in a riot van to spending hours in a cold cell wondering if I'd ever see my child again. When a lead officer callously remarked "I guess your pockets won't be so flush" upon hearing my concerns about supporting my family, I realized this wasn't about protection – it was about punishment.

For over a year, I lived with the threat of prosecution hanging over me, unable to legally speak to witnesses, watching my professional network crumble, and struggling with PTSD. Though my charges were eventually dropped, the trauma remains, along with a criminal record that makes exiting sex work nearly impossible.

This episode isn't just my story it's a window into why decriminalization matters. We don't arrest people who use safe drug consumption rooms because we understand harm reduction saves lives. Why then do we criminalize sex workers for implementing the same safety principles?

Listen as I share what I'd planned to tell the court before my case was dismissed, and learn how organizations like the English Collective of Prostitutes provide crucial support to those criminalized for their own safety. This is about more than sex work – it's about human rights, harm reduction, and a system that criminalizes care.

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