“It's getting worse day by day”: New documentary shines light on life as a sex worker in Luton after death of Victoria Greenwood

The 18-minute film by Moving Image Film delves into the lives of women selling themselves in Hightown after fellow sex worker, Victoria Greenwood, was killed and her body burnt by Robert Brown, 38.

Under the darkness of night, various women tell Rory Campbell, filmmaker and video editor from the town, about their experiences - with their faces blurred for their safety.

Rory said: “I hope my documentary will provide street workers with a platform to share their experiences and help the community better understand the challenges of addiction, homelessness, and prostitution that have persisted in the area for decades and that residents have been advocating to address.”

Brown, who was jailed for life for her murder, had been a regular customer, according to one of those women interviewed.

Melissa said: “We had a very good friend of ours called Vicky, and she saw her regular client. Sadly, she was kidnapped, tortured set alight and killed. So that scared this community massively.

“Our sex workers were very scared to come out here for a very long time. But again, you have to be fearless to a certain degree to even be able to do what we do because it isn't easy, and we will never be respected.”

Melissa is 36 years old and first started this work at the age of 17 after getting into drugs.

She said: “I had a girl mate that introduced me to coming down here to work, to earn money, rather than terrorising my community, to fund my addiction. At least this way, I'm not hurting anyone but myself.”

The film paints a bleak picture of the risk, worry and danger for the women left to feed themselves and their addiction through prostitution, touching on subjects like drug abuse, homelessness and mental health.

Shots of locations around Luton are spliced between raw recollections of violence, sexual assaults and verbal taunts.

Melissa explained: “I've experienced being raped out here. I've experienced being gang raped. I've been assaulted an untold amount of times. I've had my jaw broken. Only two weeks ago, I got thrown out of a car. I broke my collarbone. I was covered in bruises.”

Scarlett Rose spoke about her experience on the streets: “I got my jaw broken. I had someone jump on my head like nine times, then I was put in a coma. Just because he wanted his money back."

Rita is one of the women grappling with what she has to do to survive and her dreams for the future. She said: “Raising money to get well, feed myself, make myself look representable so that I can get money. Every day is a big challenge.”

The women highlighted the work done by Azalea Luton and ResoLUTiONs but called for more help.

Dee, 46, said: "It's getting worse day by day. There is support, there are some nice people, but there's a lot of horrible people, more than there are nice people.”

Later in the documentary, Rita explains that she hopes to get out of the “vicious circle”. She said: “I’d like to not be doing this and have a nice house, have my boys. We’re being set up to fail.”

Melissa has hopes of helping other people by sharing her experiences. She said: “So my dreams are, I want to be a motivational speaker and help young children of today to help their self-esteem and confidence because I think that's one of the big things that a lot of us do lack. And I want to do a documentary on the depth of addiction, just to give society a better insight.

“One day, hopefully, I will leave this behind.”

Rita added: “I wanna sort my life out really, before it’s too late."

Inspector Liz Spurling from Bedfordshire Police said: “As part of our ongoing work to tackle violence against women and girls, we are working to safeguard women with dedicated operations such as Octans, an ongoing multi-agency approach to tackling on-street sexual exploitation in High Town, Luton.

“The operation aims to ensure women in the area are not being exploited though addiction or other vulnerabilities into providing sex, and our enforcement is targeted at street exploiters, drug dealing, and anti-social behaviour.

“We work alongside organisations to ensure that our victims of crime are seen and heard and provided the appropriate support for them such as Azalea, a dedicated charity supporting those affected by sex trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery."

She added: “Officers have been involved with the Azelea Outreach Van, which is a mobile temporary place of safety for women victims of sex trafficking, ensure victims have a safe space to disclose exploitation, as well as the ability to access support services and Independent Sexual Violence Advisors.

“We continue to work closely with local residents who have fed back to us their concerns in the Pathways Estate meeting, that they are seeing a difference in the area.

“If you have information or concerns, or need support, report online here.”

Rory explained: “I hope viewers come away with a better understanding of the complex issues involved, such as the social and economic factors at play.

“My goal is to encourage empathy and spark conversations about how we can support those affected, and perhaps find out how they can help through charities.

“The film aims to raise awareness, influence local policies, and enhance support services. I truly believe that filmmaking can drive meaningful change.”