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CARE Welcomes Trafficking Announcement - British Men Must be Called to Account
Social Policy Charity CARE has welcomed this morning’s announcement from the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith that the Government intends to introduce a law that will make it illegal to purchase sex from a victim of trafficking.
Rachel Davies, Care’s Human Trafficking Officer responded ‘At the moment it is perfectly legal to purchase sex from anyone – including a victim of trafficking – so long as this isn’t in an ‘on-street context’ where punters will be caught by kerb crawling provisions. This is worrying given that research demonstrates that demand for paid sex in Britain is growing rapidly and trafficked women are increasingly been used to feed this demand. The new legislation announced today should address this serious shortcoming at least with respect to the victims of trafficking.
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Nola Leach, Care’s director of public affairs, continued. ‘Whilst we welcome the Government’s announcement, in so far as it goes, we do not believe that it is consistent with women’s rights to sustain a legal framework that allows men to buy sex from women. Although there are a minority of women in the ‘upper classes’ of prostitution who say they enjoy their work, the vast majority of women don’t consider it to be a fulfilling career. More often than not - due to the abuse, drug use and the chaotic lifestyle - many find it extremely difficult to exit. The current framework serves the interests of the minority not the exploited majority who must be our prime concern.’
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Dan Boucher, Care’s director of parliamentary affairs concluded, ‘It is embarrassing as a British man to confront the fact that in recent years more and more of us have started buying sex. We need to grow up, recognising that women are not bodies that we can procure for half an hour, but fellow human beings of equal dignity and worth. We cannot expect to live in a healthy society, at ease with itself, so long as our laws sustain a framework that distorts the crucial relationship between men and women.’
1. In her speech to the Labour party conference, Jacqui Smith the Home Secretary said: ‘We're on track to ratify the human trafficking convention by the end of the year, but I'm interested in more than just the words on a page.And so, next month, we will start work to outlaw paying for sex with someone forced into prostitution at another's will, or controlled for another's gain.’ http://www.labour.org.uk/jacqui_smith_speech
2. CARE is a registered Christian charity seeking to combine practical caring initiatives, at national and community level, with public policy on social and ethical issues. CARE campaigns, provides resources, undertakes caring work and helps to bring Christian insight and experience to matters of public policy, education and practical caring initiatives, particularly on behalf of the most needy.
CARE stance on commercial sexual exploitation
CARE recognises the imbalance of power between the bought and the buyer and supports an approach which tackles the demand for prostitution through criminalising the trafficking, pimping and buying of people for sexual exploitation. CARE advocates a compassionate approach to those involved in prostitution, rather than immediate fines and imprisonment as this does little to help people escape the cycle of involvement in commercial sexual exploitation.
Links to further information
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