Parliament addresses prostitution demand

An amendment which criminalises the buying of sexual services was debated in Parliament on Tuesday 27th November. New Clause 8¹, which tackles the demand for prostitution and sex trafficking, was tabled to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill by Phillip Hollobone, the member for Kettering.

You can download the text of the amendment here and the accompanying briefing here

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Several members spoke in favour of New Clause 8 – highlighting the fact that in order to reduce the number of people drawn into prostitution we need to reduce the demand which is fuelling the supply. Vernon Coaker, Home Office minister for Crime Reduction, responded by saying that the Home Office will be taking 6 months of 2008 to further consider how the government can better tackle demand. As part of this period he will be visiting Sweden to look at how legislation there has reduced trafficking into the country.

Background

The purpose of the clause is to reduce the numbers of people experiencing what the Home Office has recognised are the devastating effects of prostitution.²

The number of British men purchasing sex has doubled in recent years³, fuelling demand for prostitution. This rising demand is resulting in growing numbers of women and girls being trafficked to the UK in what constitutes an appalling modern form of slavery.⁴ If accepted, New Clause 8 which tackles this demand, would be a significant step in reducing prostitution and sex trafficking in the UK.

Mark Wakeling, Director of NCAP⁵, an organisation which supports 45 welfare projects across the UK working with those in prostitution, says ‘This debate is about society’s responsibility to protect the vulnerable. At the heart of this is the assumed right for men to purchase sex. We believe that responsibility must rest on the consumer and with high levels of exploitation and vulnerability, there is an unjust power dynamic which perpetuates commercial sexual exploitation within the UK.’

Nola Leach, CARE’s Chief Executive agrees ‘The passage of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill provides us with an ideal opportunity to introduce measures which will significantly reduce modern day slavery in the UK. In this year, the anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, it is imperative that we do not allow this opportunity to pass us by.’

Dan Boucher, CARE’s director of parliamentary affairs, concluded ‘We hope very much that Mr Brown will seize this Wilberforce moment - this opportunity to do something substantive to help people involved in contemporary slavery - and give government support to this timely and much needed amendment.’

For more information please contact

Rachel Davies, Human Trafficking Policy Officer on 020 ...

Notes to editors

1. Currently it is not illegal to engage in prostitution per se only to solicit ‘on street’ or kerb crawl ‘on street.’ Whilst the law does tackle pimps and brothel owners, it does not engage directly with those seeking to purchase sex off street. The majority of trafficked women work ‘off-street’.

2. ‘Prostitution can have devastating consequences for the individuals involved and for the wider community. It involves the abuse of children and the serious exploitation of adults – many of whom are trafficked into and around the UK for this purpose’ - Paying the Price, July 2004. The report also highlights the fact that 70% of individuals in prostitution in the UK entered the trade before their 18^th birthday, 85% experienced abuse as children and as many as 95% involved in street prostitution in the UK are addicted to Heroin and/or crack.

3. The proportion of men who reported paying for sex in the previous five years increased from 2% in 1990 to 4.2% in 2000. Who pays for sex? An analysis of the increasing prevalence of female commercial sex contacts among men in Britain. H Ward et al, Sexually Transmitted Infections 2005; 81: 467-471. Given the growth of the sex industry since 2000, it would seem likely that demand will have continued to grow since 2000.

4. In 2003 the Home Office suggested that there were 4000 women in the UK who had been trafficked for sexual exploitation purposes. Most people working in the field believe that there are actually significantly more than 4000 women in the UK today who have been trafficked here to work in the sex trade. Most trafficked women are set to work offering off-street prostitution services, e.g. in brothels, which is entirely beyond the reach of current demand provisions. As many as 81% of women working in brothels in the UK are now thought to have come from overseas (Sex In the city: Mapping Commercial Sex Across London, The Poppy Project, 2004)

5. The National Christian Alliance on Prostitution (NCAP) exists to unite, equip and empower groups working with people involved in prostitution to offer freedom and change. NCAP has over 45 affiliated projects who work with around 4,000 people caught up in prostitution throughout the UK.

6. CARE is a well-established mainstream Christian charity providing resources and helping to bring Christian insight and experience to matters of public policy and practical caring initiatives. CARE is represented in the UK Parliaments and Assemblies, at the EU in Brussels and the UN in Geneva and New York. Care is working in partnership with CHASTE to address demand.