On this day, 17 November 1982, 50 sex workers, members of the English Collective of Prostitutes, occupied the Holy Cross Church in King’s Cross, London, in protest against police harassment, violence and racism. They made six demands: an end to illegal arrests of sex workers; an end to police blackmail, harassment and racism; an end to the taking of sex workers’ children; an end to arrests of boyfriends and male relatives (especially Black ones) as “pimps”; welfare and housing for women who wish to leave the sex industry; and finally for arrests to be made of rapists and pimps instead. The occupation was inspired by a similar one undertaken by women in Lyon, France in 1975. Over the course of the 12 days of occupation, more sex workers would join the occupation. While Camden council made promises to the women to monitor illegal police arrests, they did not follow through on them after the occupation ended. However the incident helped catalyse feminist sex worker organising in England.
More info in this book by Selma James: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/sex-race-and-class-the-perspective-of-winning-a-selection-of-writings-1952-2011-selma-jameshttps://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1856207664564375/?type=3
