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Sacro’s Another Way Service offers intensive support and guidance to drug-using street sex workers. The service supports and encourages women to engage with drug treatment and care services, helping them break their cycle of drug dependency and offending.
Research suggests that the vast majority of women who engage in street sex work do so to fund a drug habit. In turn, dependency may be reinforced: continued drug misuse can be a way of coping with the grim reality of street sex work. Some women also work to fund a friend’s or partner’s habit.
The Another Way service helps women to break this cycle. By providing support to access appropriate drug treatment, health care, housing, benefits and other services, the service offers an opportunity to reduce or terminate drug use, street sex work and offending. If appropriate, advice and support can also be offered to friends or partners.
Following initial contact with the service user, a Sacro worker will make an assessment of the woman’s needs and both parties will agree a support plan. This lays out the action needed to access treatment services, harm reduction measures and a wide variety of health, housing, employment and social services.
The Sacro worker will provide information on relevant agencies and services, make referrals as necessary and, importantly, support the woman in sustaining these contacts, helping her to keep appointments and often accompanying her as she accesses the services.
The service is aimed at any street sex worker, particularly (but not only) if she has drug and/or alcohol problems, who wishes to reduce or end her involvement in street sex work.
Referrals can be made by the police, by the procurator fiscal as diversions from prosecution or by the court as part of a deferred sentence. We can also accept referrals from other agencies, other Sacro services, and self-referrals.
- Meet with the woman and/or her referrer.
- Undertake a needs assessment.
- Make a support plan.
- Intensive support (1-2 times weekly).
- Client centred, holistic support.
- Help with:
* Housing
* Benefits
* Addiction issues
* Health issues – linking women into health services where appropriate
* Harm reduction approach with sex work
* Exiting sex work if the woman wishes to
* Family/children support
* Support with partner where relevant
* Training/Employment
* Mediation and advocacy with other agencies e.g. police, social work
* Joint working with multi-agency support
* Any other issues affecting the woman.
- Types of contact:
* Face to face
* Home visits
* Support to agencies
* Phone
* Email.
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