From 2014 to 2020, Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire police designated parts of Holbeck, one of the UK's most deprived inner-city areas, as a site for an experiment with legal street prostitution. The policy permitted men to cruise the area for vulnerable women struggling with addiction and pay to sexually abuse them with impunity. What followed was an extreme drop in the quality of life of local residents, as well as continued violence against women by buyers, including at least one murder of a woman named Daria Pionca. After sustained effort, 7 years later, residential and feminist activists managed to get the policy revoked. Here is that story as told by feminist journalist, Belstaffie (https://x.com/Belstaffie), read by Elly Arrow.Sources:https://uncommongroundmedia.com/holbeck-managed-approach-drowning-not-swimming/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/life-road-squirming-residents-see-25290708https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-57487062https://taz.de/Strassenprostitution-in-Berlin/!5634823/https://dieunsichtbarenmaenner.wordpress.com/menu/Images:Holbeck Moor Road, Holbeck; Leeds and Holbeck After Dark by Steve PartridgeBuilding on a corner site, Holbeck Lane, Leeds by Humphrey BoltonEntrance to City Life development, Springwell Road by Stephen Craven St Matthews Community Centre by Philip BarkerAll other images by Belstaffie

Red Light Exposé is now 2-years-old!! To celebrate the anniversary of our launch, Andrea Heinz, Sybil Jo, and Elly Arrow hosted an "Ask Us Anything" livestream where listeners got a chance to ask... anything. So we ended up talking about music, podcasts, orgs doing the work, exercise and how we recuperate from the exhausting parts of activism.

If you'd like to support us financially, have a look here: https://redlightexpose.com/donate-%2F-volunteer

Recommended artists:

Paris Paloma https://www.youtube.com/@parispaloma 

Fiona Apple https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/3g2kUQ6tHLLbmkV7T4GPtL 

Alanis Morissette https://www.youtube.com/alanis 

Tori Amos https://www.youtube.com/@toriamos 

Regina Spektor https://www.youtube.com/@reginaspektor 

Broken Bells https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxEMC0cFUaffVm-0O082dmg 

Ani DiFranco https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9JkkItvdjEji6U4RQ3a1hg 

Caroline Polachek https://www.youtube.com/@CarolinePolachek 

Hozier https://www.youtube.com/@hozier 

Recommended music hour: WLRN Old Episodes Music Hour with DJ Phoenix https://open.spotify.com/search/wlrn%20music%20hour 

Recommended song: “And Leave” by Sóley https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/track/2XvCKfBg0cGmjl9yz8DUlq 

Recommended podcasts:

Exit Wound https://www.exitwoundpodcast.com/ 

Subject to Power https://www.subjecttopower.com/ 

The New Feminist https://www.thenewfeminist.net/read 

The Yasmine Mohammed Podcast https://www.yasminemohammed.com/podcast 

Ending Sexploitation https://sexploitation.libsyn.com/ 

Recommended organisations:

Sisters https://sisters-ev.de/en/ 

Netzwerk Ella https://netzwerk-ella.de/ 

Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) https://catwinternational.org/ 

CAP International: https://www.cap-international.org/en/ 

CEASE (Center To Empower All Survivors of Exploitation) https://www.ceasenow.org/ 

Vancouver Rape Relief https://rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/ 

CLES (La Concertation des luttes contre l’exploitation sexuelle) https://www.lacles.org/ 

Eve (Formerly Exploited Voices Now Educating) https://educating-voices.com/new/ 

Men Ending Trafficking https://www.menendingtrafficking.ca/ 

EmpowerMen https://empowermen.ca/ 

Not In My City https://notinmycity.ca/ 

Epik Project https://www.epikproject.org/ 

NCOSE https://endsexualexploitation.org/ 

YouMySister https://youmysister.org.uk/ 

New Yorkers For The Equality Model (NY4EM) https://www.equalitymodelny.org/equality-model 

A group of 8th graders at a German high school got the task to design an "inclusive" brothel during their biology class in 2026. The task is taken almost word-for-word from a 2008 sex ed book that includes a range of pro-BDSM and sex industry messaging directed at school kids and has been used in a number of classrooms since publication. Elly Arrow and Sybil Jo discuss what this vision of sex education looks like, its dark historical origins and how it hinders the important work of real violence and minority discrimination prevention.

Sources

https://www1.wdr.de/nrw/niederrhein/kreis-kleve/kevelaer-prostitution-schule-100.html

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexualp%C3%A4dagogik_der_Vielfalt

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Kentler

https://www.emma.de/artikel/kinderfreunde-es-geht-weiter-333657

https://www.emma.de/artikel/falsche-kinderfreunde-263497

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/experten-warnen-vor-zu-frueher-aufklaerung-von-kindern-13203307.html

Elly Arrow interviews Yagmur Uygarkizi about her years-long research into unethical medical trials conducted on sexually exploited women and girls in the Global South, the misogyny and racism that enable such experimentation, and how it all ties into the Gates Foundation’s work on HIV, even post the Melinda French and Bill Gates' divorce.

Correction: 

The Red Umbrella Fund only openly states having provided financial support to pro-prostitution organisations in Kyrgyzstan and not Kazakhstan, as mentioned in the podcast, although it did indirectly support similar groups in the country through the SWAN federation (Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Federation): https://swannet.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/annual-report-2024.pdf.

Links:

Yagmur Uygarkizi’s website: https://borazansesli.com/ 

“Prostituted Women Experimented on For Decades in USA-funded HIV Trials Overseas”: https://4w.pub/prostituted-women-experimented-on/

Follow us:

Facebook: ⁠@RedLightExposé⁠

⁠Instagram: @RLE.podcast

TikTok: ⁠@redlightexpose⁠

Twitter: ⁠@RedLightExpose

YouTube: @RedLightExpose

Disclaimer:

All the information provided through Red Light Exposé is published in good faith and solely for general information and educational purposes. It is not in any way intended to serve as a substitute for professional advice. The views represented in this episode do not necessarily represent the views of other Red Light Exposé hosts or the group as a whole. Red Light Exposé makes no representations or warranties of any kind or in any form, whether express or implied, about the completeness, timeliness, reliability, availability, validity, suitability, and accuracy, or guarantee that there will be no losses, errors, and omissions with respect to the information or content contained in any episode.

Elly Arrow and Sybil Jo discuss some controversial entries to the Eurovision Song Contest 2026: "Choke Me" by Alexandra Căpitănescu aestheticizes sexualized strangulation, "Superstar" features George O'Dowd aka Boy George who infamously assaulted and falsely imprisoned a man in escort prostitution, and finally, "Andromeda" by Lelek expresses the pain of Catholic Croat families having their boys and girls kidnapped and forced into military and sexual slavery by the Ottoman Empire - but unfortunately, said history is today often reinterpreted and instrumentalized by religious zealots and dangerous nationalist movements.

Sources:

"Choke Me" by Alexandra Căpitănescu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn0YmI0dPb8

About the "Choke Me" controversy: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/mar/13/romania-eurovision-song-choke-me-criticised-glamorising-sexual-strangulation

https://www.kemh.health.wa.gov.au/~/media/HSPs/NMHS/Hospitals/WNHS/Documents/Patients-resources/SARC---Non-fatal-strangulation.pdf 

Alexandra Căpitănescu says "Choke Me" is about her own depression and mental health struggles: https://youtube.com/shorts/r38KNvV0yUk?is=rY-kmZGQyUiGvTX7

"Superstar" by Senhit feat. Boy George: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84ZJdkqcaDw&list=RD84ZJdkqcaDw&start_radio=1

Boy George's criminal history: https://www.goodto.com/entertainment/why-did-boy-george-go-to-prison

"Andromeda" by Lelek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl7Jqnw10sU&list=RDvl7Jqnw10sU

Children in slavery in the Ottoman Empire: https://research.sabanciuniv.edu/id/eprint/42701/1/10336581.Bayraktaro%C4%9Flu_Bahar.pdf 

Evaluation of traditionally Croat or Bosnian tattoos by historian Ana Sekulic: https://newlinesmag.com/essays/the-origin-stories-of-bosnian-tattoos-are-only-skin-deep/ 

Outrage in Turkey over "Andromeda" song: https://en.euromix.co.il/2026/03/17/eurovision-2026-turkey-outraged-by-leleks-andromeda-lyrics/

"Gag Order" by Ke$ha: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk2Kkc2y8iU&list=PLCuCdnh8-13dVprHny3jdC-focV_1g5jh

"Alice" by Veronica Fusaro: https://youtu.be/PfpYGAzW5dM?si=tnxPhCgfcTY3vKsv

"Nova Zora" by Tamara Živković : https://youtu.be/nuvy2d60HbI?si=Rnh03oesdb50GEuW

"Tanzschein" by Cosmo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPGP9ZphxiY&list=RDzPGP9ZphxiY

Elly Arrow interviews Yagmur Uygarkizi about her years-long research into unethical medical trials conducted on sexually exploited women and girls in the Global South, the misogyny and neo-colonialism that enable such experimentation, and how it all ties into the Gates Foundation’s work on HIV and Bill Gates personal treatment of women in light of his infamous connection to Jeffrey Epstein.

Links

Yagmur Uygarkizi’s website: https://borazansesli.com/ 

“Prostituted Women Experimented on For Decades in USA-funded HIV Trials Overseas”: https://4w.pub/prostituted-women-experimented-on/ 

Epstein alleges that Gates got an STI while exploiting young Russian women: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/30/bill-gates-caught-std-from-russian-girls-epstein-claimed/ 

Follow us:

Facebook: ⁠@RedLightExposé⁠

⁠Instagram: @RLE.podcast

TikTok: ⁠@redlightexpose⁠

Twitter: ⁠@RedLightExpose

YouTube: @RedLightExpose

Disclaimer:

All the information provided through Red Light Exposé is published in good faith and solely for general information and educational purposes. It is not in any way intended to serve as a substitute for professional advice. The views represented in this episode do not necessarily represent the views of other Red Light Exposé hosts or the group as a whole. Red Light Exposé makes no representations or warranties of any kind or in any form, whether express or implied, about the completeness, timeliness, reliability, availability, validity, suitability, and accuracy, or guarantee that there will be no losses, errors, and omissions with respect to the information or content contained in any episode.

Sybil Jo is joined by her life-long friend, Sister Pauletta Duke, to discuss their shared experience of being brought up in a U.S. Christian evangelical context, the damaging patriarchal hierarchies and mechanisms at play lending themselves to controlling and manipulating women and girls, including into (commercial) sexual exploitation, and how ideas and powerful individuals from within the fundamentalist movement heavily influence mainstream U.S. politics today.

Elly Arrow speaks to Kajsa Ekis Ekman about how the surrogacy industry turns women’s reproductive capacity, as well as infants, into commodities, subject to contractual conditions and market forces. They trace the history of surrogacy, explain its modern-day practices, its appearance in the Epstein case, exploring similarities and differences between surrogacy and prostitution, and finally elaborate on how resistance against these industries can be mounted.

Links

Kajsa Ekis Ekman’s website: https://www.kajsaekisekman.org/about

“Being and Being Bought: Prostitution, Surrogacy and the Split Self“: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18727849-being-and-being-bought 

Khloé Kardashian had a hard time connecting with her son after the 'transactional' nature of surrogacy: https://www.businessinsider.com/khloe-kardashian-surrogacy-tatum-relationship-2023-5 

Olivia Maurel, born from surrogacy, speaks out as an adult: https://www.instagram.com/maurel_oliviaoff/ 

Surrogacy continues during the Ukraine war: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyp4kp687go

Books on surrogacy by Renate Klein: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/38649.Renate_Klein

Casablanca Declaration for the Universal Abolition of Surrogacy: https://declaration-surrogacy-casablanca.org/

Follow us:

Facebook: ⁠@RedLightExposé⁠

⁠Instagram: @RLE.podcast

TikTok: ⁠@redlightexpose⁠

Twitter: ⁠@RedLightExpose

YouTube: @RedLightExpose

Disclaimer:

All the information provided through Red Light Exposé is published in good faith and solely for general information and educational purposes. It is not in any way intended to serve as a substitute for professional advice. The views represented in this episode do not necessarily represent the views of other Red Light Exposé hosts or the group as a whole. Red Light Exposé makes no representations or warranties of any kind or in any form, whether express or implied, about the completeness, timeliness, reliability, availability, validity, suitability, and accuracy, or guarantee that there will be no losses, errors, and omissions with respect to the information or content contained in any episode.

Sybil Jo and Elly Arrow discuss a Guardian opinion article by an anonymous 15-year-old girl reporting what she sees every day going on apps frequented by her peers, how boys her age talk about women and girls online and offline and what it means for the present and future of humanity.Sources:The article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/23/15-year-old-girl-misogyny-social-media-online-abuseGail Dines: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gail+dines

Elly Arrow and Savannah Severn discuss a new trend in soft porn and sexualized humiliation of women: Men secretly filming and photographing women on their night out - a documented phenomenon in the UK, Japan, and South Korea. These videos are then shared online and increasingly monetized amassing audiences of millions of men. It seems a global "My Life Is Not Your Porn" movement is sorely needed.

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/18/disturbing-rise-of-nightlife-content-bonnie-blue

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/23/those-who-view-voyeuristic-nightlife-videos-are-the-issue