- Published
The Met need to move away from criminalising women involved in street sex work in the wake of the Simon Levy case, officers have told the BBC.
asserted
officers → publish → BBC
Levy, a convicted sex offender, was left to kill two women and rape another - all of whom were vulnerable and sometimes engaged in street sex work - due to a series of failings, including by the force.
asserted
Levy → convict → force
Now the Met is piloting a new two-officer female team in north London to engage with street sex workers, in a bid to improve trust and encourage them to report crimes committed against them.
asserted
Met → pilot → them
The Levy case exposed grave failings in policing and also the inherent tension in its approach to street sex workers.
asserted
case → expose → workers
Sex work is legal in the UK, excluding Northern Ireland, but related activities like soliciting for clients in public places - known as street sex work - working together, or brothel keeping, pimping and advertising sexual services are all illegal.
asserted
activities → exclude → services
Street sex workers are also often targeted by police using anti-social behaviour powers.
asserted
workers → target → powers
Many women who require protection naturally fear arrest and do not trust officers to investigate violence.
asserted
who → require → violence
On patrol with officers who run new Met scheme
The BBC joined a patrol with the two plain-clothed female officers who run the new Met scheme, Operation Amicus.
asserted
who → run → scheme
They described hearing about endemic levels of male violence against the women they have met, who come from a cohort of 80 women in the area identified as involved in street-based sex work.
asserted
who → describe → work
"Every single one has reported something," one of the officers said, "whether they've been raped, they've been punched - they've been attacked in some way, shape or form."
asserted
they → report → way
The officers, whom the BBC agreed not to name, said several women have been too scared to report abuse to the police.
asserted
women → agree → police
The officers described encountering an appalling situation in which women are repeatedly attacked by men but think the police cannot be trusted to help.
asserted
police → describe → men
Some women "expect to be raped and sexually assaulted by customers - it's just become the norm, so [they think] what is the point in reporting [it]", one of the officers said.
asserted
one → expect → officers
The new team added that they were trying to help the women to formally report crimes.
asserted
women → add → crimes
'They're just trying to survive'
asserted
They → try → ?
"Once they report one and they realise they're being listened to, they then start to report the next one because they know that somebody's [going] to turn up and somebody's going to listen and [they're] going to be taken seriously."
asserted
they → report → one
The officers the BBC spoke to said the Met needs to move away from criminalising women involved in street sex work – saying it's "not fair" when "they're just trying to survive".
They said they were also aware of concerns by residents about sex work in their streets and the need to tackle organised crime.
asserted
they → speak → crime
Levy, who was given a whole-life term in August, sexually assaulted women at random on London's public transport network, as well as elsewhere.
asserted
who → give → network
He now has convictions for attacking 13 women he encountered on the Tube and trains, as well as at music events and even in prison.
asserted
he → have → prison
He also targeted vulnerable women involved in street sex work.
asserted
He → target → work
He killed Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins five months later.
asserted
He → kill → March
Prior to their murders, Levy had raped a third woman, in January 2025.
asserted
Levy → rap → January
The rape survivor told police what had happened while she was being arrested by Met officers for allegedly breaching a community banning order.
uncertain
she → tell → order
But the Met didn't properly engage with her and eventually closed the rape case.
asserted
Met → engage → case
It was only re-opened when Levy went on to murder Valencia-Trujillo and Wilkins, which took place in the same section of a car park where he had raped the surviving victim.
asserted
he → re → victim
The survivor later said in a statement "nobody ever listened to me" and that the police who interviewed her had spoken to her "like a child".
asserted
who → say → child
The Met and the Crown Prosecution Service have apologised over a series of decisions that left Levy free to roam the streets.
asserted
that → apologise → streets
Supt Rob Gibbs said the new team is "an acknowledgement that we needed to change the way in which we were working" and move away from criminalising sex work.
asserted
we → say → work
"Women get stuck in the criminal justice system" for minor offences, he said - and this leads to "more sex working and actually we need to break that cycle".
asserted
we → stick → cycle
Gibbs added that women involved in street-based sex work were at the "most harsh end of violence against women and girls".
asserted
women → add → women
While on patrol, the BBC met a woman we are calling Alice to protect her identity.
asserted
we → meet → identity
She told us most women she knows who are homeless and engage in sex work in Tottenham, north London, have not reported assaults for fear of the police and being arrested themselves.
asserted
who → tell → police
She said two men have attacked her in separate incidents this year, including a man who violently assaulted her after she declined to take his money and sell him sex a few months ago.
asserted
she → say → sex
"I was scared to contact the police," she said.
asserted
she → scar → police
"When I went to the hospital I begged the doctors, 'please don't phone the police because I'll get arrested'."
asserted
I → go → police
Alice said she first met the Met's female sex-worker liaison team when she was attacked by another man after falling asleep in a lift to her mum's apartment.
asserted
she → say → apartment
"They came and said, 'look, we're not here to arrest you, get you in trouble, we're here to support you'," Alice said.
asserted
Alice → come → you
'Women describe absolute terror from the police'
asserted
Women → describe → police
The Met says the new team has already improved safeguarding and increased reports of rape and sexual offences, as well as improving information sharing to identify "the most dangerous perpetrators of violence against women and girls".
asserted
team → say → women
However, the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) - which advocates for decriminalisation of sex workers - said that previous police clear-up operations on organised crime in London and around the country have led to a longstanding history of police prioritising prosecuting sex workers, rather than investigating male violence against them.
asserted
police → advocate → them
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
