00:16
I'm a midwife. A lot of us work part time and make do with having less money in order to do midwifery because it's so stressful. There's a saying 'midwives working conditions are women's birthing conditions'. If it's not good for us, it's not good for the people we're caring for. You're on your feet probably 11 hours at a time.

Speaker 2 00:40
Back in 2012 I got arrested for brothel keeping because I was working with other women. The only way to legally work is to work by yourself, which is obviously a lot more dangerous. In 2012, they raided lots of premises trying to clean up the city for the Olympics, and all they did was displace lots of workers. Because I got a criminal record I couldn't work with children anymore. I couldn't work with vulnerable people. I couldn't work in care homes because they all require DBS checks. So basically, what was a little job that helped me pay back the debts I got from drama school turned into a full-time career.

01:17
I've never seen any physical violence, although that does occasionally happen but, yes, there's abusive and sometimes threatening behavior. We've only got women to rely on in these situations, which is good because everybody understands what it's like to be a lone woman stuck in a room with a man who's making you uncomfortable.

Speaker 2: I work by myself now because I don't want to get arrested again. But if something went wrong, I wouldn't call the police. I'd have to deal with it by myself.

Speaker 1: I work in a fractured system that doesn't enable me to provide the best care for women. When you do have the time to form those relationships you can see the difference you're making to how women feel about themselves and their family life.

Speaker 2: Most of us just want to earn some money and pay back debts, pay for university and look after our kids. This is the reason most of us are working.