Emma Caldwell murder 'could be repeated' as study shows horrors sex workers face

08 March 2024 , 07:26

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Emma Caldwell was murdered 19 years ago (Image: PA)

Fears Emma Caldwell's murder could be repeated are rising after a new study found sex workers face horrific levels of violence on British streets.

80% of prostitutes in Glasgow, Scotland, have been subjected to assaults by men using them for sex and 6% of the women surveyed have been a victim of attempted murder by a client. It comes as a public inquiry is to be held into the police investigation into 27-year-old Ms Caldwell's death almost two decades ago, Scotland's Justice Secretary Angela Constance has announced.

Iain Packer was this week convicted of killing the sex worker and dumping her body at Limefield Woods in Lanarkshire 19 years ago. The 51-year-old was also found guilty of 32 other charges including 11 rapes and multiple sexual assaults against a total of 22 women following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow, Scotland.

Today marks International Women's Day, with campaigners demanding action to crackdown on men who attack women in the sex industry. Linda Thompson, National Coordinator Women’s Support Project, said the survey showed the daily dangers faced by women in prostitution and a failure to tackle the problem.

Iain Packer who has been found guilty of murder (PA)

She told the Daily Record: “Nineteen years after Emma’s murder, the violence against women involved in prostitution remains high. Another murder like Emma’s is inevitable.

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“Most of these crimes are not even reported to the police meaning there are men out there not being held accountable for violence and who are free to carry on harming women again and again. All women. Any one of the attempted murders noted in the survey could have been another Emma.”

The snapshot survey from Encompass Network, a coalition of seven Scottish services supporting women involved in prostitution, questioned 53 women seeking help across one week. Linda said the report gave a disturbing reflection of the brutal realities across the industry and shows that commercial sexual exploitation is never “safe”.

Police search woodland near Roberton in South Lanarkshire (PA)

Crimes against the women included physical attack, sexual assault, rape, harassment, robbery, stalking and attempted murder. The survey also gives a devastating insight into the vulnerability of women who sell sex.

Linda said: “We normalise this as sex work, it is not work, it is exploitation.” Those surveyed were involved across the sex industry from on-street prostitution to webcamming and selling sex in brothels.

Six of the women in the survey had been trafficked from overseas to work in Scotland’s sex-for-sale trade. A quarter were under 18 when they were first involved in selling or exchanging sex.

Three quarters said they were selling sex or exchanging it for rent because they were struggling to survive, an issue compounded by the soaring cost of living crisis. Linda said: “We are a country aspiring to have gender equality yet it is being accepted women will do this to survive.”

Ms Caldwell had been living at a hostel in the Govanhill area of Glasgow when she died (PA)

A third had been in care, a quarter had suffered child sex abuse, two thirds domestic abuse, three had learning disabilities and 90 per cent reported mental health issues. Eight of the women had attempted suicide while 14 had contemplated it. Nineteen of the women had a physical disability and the trauma of being involved in prostitution had also triggered chronic conditions like fibromyalgia, which causes pain throughout the body.

Linda said: “The harm these women suffer stays with them throughout their lives. It is not acceptable in 2024 that men can use resources, whether that is drugs, money, food or a roof over your head, to gain access to women’s bodies.”

Five of the women said they knew they were being exploited by links to organised crime. Linda said: “There is a huge amount of profit being made of these women. The vast majority are poor and disadvantaged and they are not the ones profiting.”

Police searching near where Ms Caldwell's body was found in 2017 (PA)

Despite the Scottish Government declaring prostitution to be violence against women, any attempts to criminalise the purchase of sex have been thwarted in parliament. Women can still be criminalised for involvement in the sex industry and a tenth of the those surveyed had convictions for prostitution-related offences.

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Encompass and other campaigners are calling for Scotland to criminalise purchasing sex, as has happened in countries such as Sweden, Canada, Iceland and Ireland. Studies have shown making the purchase of sex illegal can reduce demand, change cultural attitudes and disrupt the operation of sex-traffickers.

Jenna Lawrence of the Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre in Dundee said the survey showed the need for more support for women to exit prostitution. Some women have told her service they leave forensic evidence in place during encounters with men because they are terrified of being murdered.

She said: “Women have said when they get in punters’ cars they purposely pull out strands of hair and leave them behind and put their hands on the dashboard to leave fingerprints as evidence for a potential crime scene. That shows the level of violence they are dealing with. Women who are exploited in prostitution are putting their lives in danger regularly out of poverty, desperation and vulnerability. That is intolerable in a modern Scotland.”

If you or somebody you know has been affected by this story, contact Victim Support for free, confidential advice on 08 08 16 89 111 or visit their website.

Annie Brown