Prof Kate Brown, from the University of York, whose research focuses on policing interventions with sex workers, said creating such teams was not in itself a solution.
“Our research shows that sex work liaison officers can make a real difference to safety and access to justice, but only when they are designed and delivered in the right way,” she said.
Her research centre is working with 12 police forces out of 43 in England and Wales, to safely implement sex worker liaison teams.
But she said these teams “cannot fix a system that continues to police and criminalise sex workers” and that “decriminalisation is the best way to deliver safety and justice” for them.
The Met said that if the team was “successful in improving confidence within the community”, then this approach would be “rolled out across the force”.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Our commitment to halving violence against women and girls within a decade includes tackling the serious exploitation and abuse associated with prostitution.
“We expect the police to treat all victims of offences with dignity, and every investigation to be conducted thoroughly. We also continue to work with NGOs and charities to ensure women and girls at risk of sexual exploitation are protected.”
