Goodbye and good riddance to the Leeds ‘Managed Zone’ in which punters were given amnesty to buy the most disenfranchised and desperate women.
Following a seven-year campaign by feminists, residents and some of the women who had previously been prostituted in the zone, this week Leeds City Council announced that the zone will not be re-opening following the end of the Covid lockdown.
The zone originated following pressure on the police and council to tackle street prostitution in the centre of Leeds. Residents and workers, sick of stepping over used condoms and fending off harassment from kerb crawlers, complained so regularly that the zone was set up by way of appeasement.
Feminists had long demanded that the police stop arresting the women — it was unjust as well as counter-productive. All that happened was that the courts would impose a fine. That then led to the revolving door situation of the financially desperate women going straight back into prostitution in order to earn the money to pay their fines.
Feminists had long demanded that the police stop arresting the women — it was unjust as well as counter-productive
But the council and West Yorkshire Police could have opted to support the women and deter punters instead of containing the problem.
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