A sanctuary for sex workers

Never wear black stockings, Lynda Dearlove’s grandmother used to warn her. “She used to say only two sorts of women wear them … nuns and prostitutes.”

It makes Lynda laugh to tell the story: because today she’s Sister Lynda, a nun who is dedicating her life to working with sex workers in one of London‘s most notorious red-light districts, King’s Cross. And just like the convent, the “safe house” Lynda has set up is women-only. “Women operate differently, and it helps street prostitutes – just as it helps nuns – to have a space that they know will only have women in it,” she says.

Women at the Well – the project’s name comes from a gospel story in which Jesus meets a woman at a well who is living in an “irregular” relationship, and refuses to judge her for it – looks like just another anonymous hotel in one of the side roads near the railway station. But step inside its doors and you’re cocooned in a place that positively oozes “care”: there are bright, cheerful paintings on the walls, a cafe and a clothes store, a computer room and lots of shower rooms with body lotion and fluffy towels.

“The women who come here can have counselling, and help with finding accommodation, but we also offer massages and manicures and the chance to get your hair done,” explains Lynda. “Most of these women have never had the chance of any pampering in their life; what we’re doing is helping them see that they matter too, that they have permission to care about themselves.

“The thing most of them most want is simply a long, hot shower. At one level, we really are dealing with very basic needs.” [more]

SOURCE

The Guardian UK