Violence against women - is this the answer to the problem?

The Metropolitan Police have today announced a move away from criminalising sex workers with the launch of Operation Amicus. This scheme involves two plain-clothed female police officers engaging with street sex workers to address the levels of physical and sexual violence against them. 

It is unfortunate that many of these women are forced onto the street through trafficking, drug and alcohol addiction, and being made homeless. They can be seen as easy statistics to boost solving of crime rates, racking up convictions for possession of drugs, soliciting, theft, and other petty crime. One of the women attacked by Simon Levy told police about him whilst being arrested for breaching her community order. You have to ask why she didn't feel comfortable disclosing this information to her probation officer? 

This is not an old problem for the Met Police. Zahid Younis was convicted in 2020 for the historical killings of two sex workers. Both women had been reported missing by their families, but their cases were only taken seriously on discovery of their bodies. 

However, it must be asked why would such women not want to report crime? You only need to look at the recent cases of Sarah Everard killed by a serving police officer, or the recent convictions of police officers for serious sexual assaults, David Carrick to name one.