Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Conference aims to tackle sexual exploitation
A NATIONAL conference on prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation was being held in Dundee today.
The charities Vice Versa and the Encompass Network, with support from Dundee City Council, hosted the event at the Steeple.
The conference — described as the first of its kind — was aimed at giving policy makers and practitioners the opportunity to learn from international responses to prostitution and hear from organisations which work with women and men involved in the sex industry.
Delegates also learned from people engaged or who have engaged in prostitution and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation.
Ann Hamilton, chairwoman of the Dundee Violence Against Women Partnership, welcomed the event.
She said: “On behalf of the Dundee Violence Against Women Partnership, we are delighted to see our city host such an important conference.
“We have a long track record of supporting women involved in prostitution, but recognise that there is still a lot of work to be done.
“We hope that this conference will help us to look at how we, as a city, provide the highest quality support to these women but also explore ways that we can reduce demand for prostitution among men.”
Sinéad Daly, manager of Vice Versa and the Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre in Dundee and Angus, said: “We are extremely proud to host this timely and first of its kind conference in Dundee, to explore how we as a country respond to the needs of women involved in prostitution and to ask the questions about how we can challenge the demand for prostitution and tackle commercial sexual exploitation.”