Two girls, Debbie and Lucy, who left home in the Midlands and went to London, where they took up prostitution, relate through interviews and conversations with the filmmaker their interpretation of their situation. Jan Worth comments, “The film attempts to deal with two things: As a feminist, my own contradictory position in relation to prostitution. As a filmmaker, the problem of documentary filmmaking which is often exploitative of its subject. This was only made possible by being fortunate enough to have developed, over a period of two years, a close working relationship with Debbie Cambell and Lucy Gordon, who appear in this film.”
“Taking a Part establishes the women's control over the discourse (spoken, written and filmed) while, crucially, refusing to present its subjects as ‘problem' figures whose only role is to...remain passive objects of study. The effect of this radical rupturing of documentary conventions is...to deny the voyeuristic thrill of ‘knowing' Lucy and Debbie's lives....” --Martyn Auty, Monthly Film Bulletin