10 minute read
SPECIAL FEATURE: STREET LIFE
Sexual health outreach worker Lynsey Riley
It’s estimated there are up to 80,000 sex workers in the UK – the majority are women * . We talk to a former street sex worker and to the outreach team who helped her find a route out. And we look how those supporting sex workers are virtually adapting their services.
Street sex workers are at a greater risk of violent assaults and rape during the coronaviruspandemic, with many too scared to report violent assaults because theyfear being arrested.
A BBC report says women are finding it harder to earn money during lockdown so have been taking more risks.
Outreach workers within Mersey Care’s sexual health service Armistead support women working in the sex trade. Wearing NHS identity badges and uniform with logo, they go into the areas where women typically work.
*Source: House of Commons Home Affairs Committee: third report of session 2016-17 www.publications.parliament.uk.
Outreach workers like Jo Lightwood support sex workers on the streets where they work
Outreach workers like Jo Lightwood support sex workers on the streets where they work.
Just being there talking, listening, tells them we’re not here to judge, we’re here to help you.
Practical help includes handing out condoms and encouraging women who inject drugs to use a needle exchange at a nearby drop in.
But it’s also a kind word, bringing warmth to a harsh and often dangerous environment. Most importantly the team can support sex workers to get help from other agencies and find a way to leave sex work if that’s what they want.
The team is part of a network of organisations that work together offering everything from emotional support and drug rehabilitation services, to housing and benefits.
Outreach work takes dedication and commitment. Armistead outreach worker Jo Lightwood (pictured above) and her colleagues work unsocial hours and work tirelessly with partner organisations. Their
reward is helping women rebuild their lives with a more positive future.
Yet sex workers are notoriously wary and often refuse help. Building relationships with the outreach team can take months, or even years.
Some women see rape, abuse and violence as ‘part of the deal’. The team encourages them to report abuse and Liverpool has a dedicated sex worker police liaison officer.
Outreach workers are adept at judging the best approach. “You learn to read someone’s body language. They’re at work, they need to earn money, and they don’t have time to talk. You desperately want to help, but if they’re not up for listening you have to walk away and say ‘catch you next time’. The important thing is they know we’ll be here again the next night... and the night
after that. We’ll wait for them till they’re ready.”
Sometimes the best support is the most basic. “We can often sense when someone’s not right,” says Jo. “Just being there talking, listening, tells them we’re not here to judge, we’re here to help you.
It’s also a kind word that brings warmth to a harsh and often dangerous environment.
VIRTUALLY THERE
In Liverpool teams from different services are finding meeting and working virtually is not just keeping vulnerable women safe – it’s seeing new ideas flourishing to improve their lives.
Sexual health outreach worker Lynsey Riley (pictured top), is part of the team based at Armistead in Hanover Street. Lockdown forced staff to begin working remotely.
She became immediately concerned for the safety of women who she knew would still be forced to work regardless of a lockdown. “I thought how are we going to keep these vulnerable women safe without being on the streets with them?”
The service is part of the local Covid-19 health network which has carried on meeting virtually. Different agencies dial in daily to identify vulnerable homeless people who need urgent support. The group works out what‘s needed for each person and how it can be provided.
ARMISTEAD STREET TEAM
It’s paying dividends for the women Lynsey works with. She tells of Arianne, a 46 year old homeless sex worker with a substance addiction. Network partners arranged for a local charity The Pearls Project to drop off food parcels and wellbeing pack. Addictions support organisation We Are With You referred Arianne for housing support. Within 24 hours she moved off the streets and into a city centre hotel. She is still engaging with services and hopes to be placed in longer term accommodation.
Lynsey is delighted. “Although it’s been really hard for us not to be able to be out there in person, it’s been incredible to see how the different services have come together, literally saving lives.”
The team operates a community based outreach and drop in service throughout the city of Liverpool, including:
• Free condoms and lubricant
• Emergency needle exchange
• Support about contraception and pregnancy
• Access to sexual health services
• Pathway to drug and alcohol services
• Support for access to health services
• Referral to counselling regarding domestic violence
• Referrals to housing and other agencies
• Supporting hostels in the area.
SPECIAL FEATURE
DOING IT FOR JENNY
Jenny, a pregnant sex worker was living in a tent in the city.
Outreach workers had tried to support her, but like many homeless people, she’d been reluctant to ‘come inside’ – a term for living in bricks and mortar accommodation.
Outreach workers from Whitechapel saw Jenny at her antenatal appointment to gain her trust then supported her to engage with the team at the City Council housing department. Jenny moved from her tent into a bed and breakfast and since then into hostel accommodation.
Katy Wafer, care coordinator for Mersey Care’s integrated care team said that as organisations meet and work virtually new ideas have flourished.
“Together we’re finding new pathways for services that will make a difference to the lives of women like Jenny. And the best thing is they’re developing organically. For instance enhanced midwives at Liverpool Women’s Hospital are looking to work more closely with the Armistead team to support pregnant sex workers with really complex needs, to help them access essential services.”
To access services or for information and support call: 0151 247 6560, Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.30pm.
I WAS A SEX WORKER – NOW I OFFER HOPE
Maxine is 47 and a former sex worker from Liverpool. She has an infectious smile and beams with pride when she talks about how she supported other women as part of her rehabilitation programme.
She often comes back to the city to visit her mum. And she’ll always go to the streets she worked for 25 years. But these days it’s to share her story and urge women selling sex to find a new life.
As a young carer for her disabled parents Maxine used sport as an escape and showed great promise as a gymnast. But at the age of 15 tragedy struck when she fractured her back, leaving her unable to walk for a year.
During that time her mum left the family home. Maxine blamed herself for not being able to fulfil her caring role. She bottled up her feelings and her opiate based painkillers helped mask the emotional as well as the physical pain. Anxiety and depression followed. She recalls: “I learned to hide stuff, but I didn’t deal with my feelings of worthlessness.”
At 18 and part of the 80s rave culture, she found herself isolated from childhood friends. “I wanted to be accepted so I drank and smoked weed, then went on to hard drugs. I was still functioning. I didn’t realise how quickly they get a hold of you.”
Determined to complete her training to become an embalmer she took part in endless rehabilitation programmes, giving birth to her first child during that time. But in her mid 20s the drugs took a hold and Maxine went to prison for theft, fraud and dealing drugs. In the years that followed she lost custody of all four of her children.
I knew right from wrong but I’d lost touch with reality.
“I’d get clean but if you don’t have a support network or change your environment the rot sets in deeper and deeper. I had so much help from so many services but my life was a catalogue of chaos.”
Getting money to feed her habit wasn’t easy. She saw how quickly it could be made on the streets. “I’d stopped feeling. I knew right from wrong but I’d lost touch with reality. You’re in survival mode yet you wish you were dead.”
Some of Maxine’s friends did die, often in horrific circumstances. Now she knows the experience has left her with post traumatic stress. Back then she just became more streetwise and hardened to her environment.
At one point she was told by the family not to attend her father’s funeral. “I was really close to my dad; he’d followed me across the country trying to help me so it hurt to stay away. It was heart breaking.”
When she first met Armistead outreach worker Jo Lightwood Maxine wasn’t up for hugs or small talk, she just needed condoms for the night ahead. “You become suspicious of everyone. I couldn’t bear anyone touching me. I couldn’t work out if it was real affection or a way of finding out what I could offer.”
REAL LIFE STORY
I want to be a beacon of hope for the girls, to show them they can get out of that life and find a better one if that’s what they choose.
HOPE
Spending time with the outreach workers changed her views. “I started to offload – I felt I could tell them things, even if I’d messed up. They became my go to people. I’d built up trust, I felt safe with them.”
Maxine’s chaotic lifestyle and addiction led to pneumonia and sepsis. Unwell and facing discharge from hospital to a ‘horrendous’ hostel, she made the decision to end her life.
“I couldn’t see a way out of this vicious cycle. I was in despair, on the streets doing drugs and selling myself. I’d always believed in God but I thought I was too far gone. I was at death’s door, I had no fight left. I cried out for Him to change my life or end it.”
Intuition kicked in for Jo Lightwood. “You can often pick up on people’s pain, but something was different. I knew we had to act quickly.” Jo contacted pastor Jennie from All Saints Church and convinced Maxine to go to the pastoral hub, where she got involved with the church community.
But the streets, the dealers and the punters were still there as she faced her biggest challenge – beating her habit. The outreach team and the church worked together, making sure she kept appointments. Jennie found accommodation for Maxine and supported her through her withdrawal from drugs.
When a negative sample came back Maxine felt hope for the first time in years. In less than a year she was off drugs altogether. She smiles when she says: “I used my last ounce of strength to choose life over death.”
There were more challenges. Maxine had to relearn life skills – and how to trust people. She was reunited with her mum and is back in touch with her eldest children. (The younger two have since been adopted and Maxine made the heart breaking but selfless decision not to maintain contact for their benefit).
Now living at a Christian independent living centre in Harrogate, she’s training as a support worker for people with learning disabilities.
Armistead’s outreach service and other services walked alongside me on this journey. I could never have done it on my own.
She’s full of gratitude for the help she’s had. “Armistead’s outreach service and other services walked alongside me on this journey. I could never have done it on my own.
“I’m managing my post traumatic stress with my faith and without medication. I have purpose to get up every morning and live my life, happy and free of my past. I now have hope for the future. “
Helping other sex workers gives her joy. “I go with my head held high. I want to be a beacon of hope for the girls, to show them they can get out of that life and find a better one if that’s what they choose.”
NEED HELP?
• Help yourself – our self help guide on depression and low mood can be read online, downloaded or watched as a video: https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/are-you-a-carer/self-help-guides/
