Government prostitution inquiry imminent: deadline 18th Feb

[Simon]

Haven't seen a thread on this yet, apologies if I missed one. There's a new Parliamentary select committee taking evidence with regard to changing the laws surrounding prostitution:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/commit...stitution/

The terms of reference are very worrying, it's apparently a token propaganda exercise prior to implementing the "Nordic model", criminalising the purchase of sexual services.

The deadline for submissions is February 18th. Please make your opinions heard!

[Nova70]

Your right to be concerned Simon and I've always believed it was only a matter of time before we saw an attempt to introduce the "Nordic Model" to the rest of the UK after the legislation in NI, one issue the committee will be discussing is how to "discourage demand which drives commercial sexual exploitation" which means advertising of course so there could well be implications for AW and even forums.

[Warwick]

Your right to be concerned Simon and I've always believed it was only a matter of time before we saw an attempt to introduce the "Nordic Model" to the rest of the UK after the legislation in NI, one issue the committee will be discussing is how to "discourage demand which drives commercial sexual exploitation" which means advertising of course so there could well be implications for AW and even forums.

The terms of reference of this enquiry are very loaded towards the Nordic model, and the evocative photo at the top of the UKparliament web page detailing the inquiry would be funny if it wasn't so serious and biased towards the obvious agenda. It's quite noticeable also that since the introduction in Northern Ireland how little the activity devoted to prosecuting offenders is. It's easy to imagine that this is a tactic to get the opposition off-guard. Less MP's will support them if they think it is a non-issue. From my perspective, all the indications are that this is a very serious and determined effort to roll the Nordic model out UK wide.

I've tried raising awareness of this on other sites, but in two cases I have been banned, largely for actually taking this subject seriously. The position of UKpunting for example is to ignore it and if it comes to pass then actively encourage mass law breaking. That won't work. Most ordinary citizens don't want to go down that path and risk fines, exposure and even jail. This is not a good time for complacency. Yet they banned me and have tried to discredit me by making false accusations in writing on their forums. Totally nuts.

[Nova70]

As men who pay for sex we're really not in any position to oppose this kind of of legislation from being introduced and as for the women well their just being told that whether you realise it or not your a victim. I'm sure most of us will continue to do what we do as the risk of being caught is pretty low but some will be prosecuted and for them it could be a life changing event, I will continue but will be a little more cautious and give a little more thought as to who I see and where I go and about the things I say on forums.

[Simon]

I will break this law if it is introduced, and I'm going to be frank about that in my submission. They need to know that this will not work.

[Nova70]

I will break this law if it is introduced, and I'm going to be frank about that in my submission. They need to know that this will not work.

Good for you Simon but I have to agree with your evaluation in the opening post that it is just a formality before the introduction of legislation, as Warwick points out the evocative image of a streetwalker is also being used, I don't know about you but I've never crawled a kerb or picked up a woman from the street but that is the image that most people have when you mention prostitution and who wouldn't want to put a stop to that .......... it's a stitch up.

[sarahxxx]

Both soliciting & kerb crawling are illegal so not relevant to the issue, so as you say, it is totally misleading. Nothing new there if you are trying to confuse what other think to get your objective across.

One of the issues being considered is "Whether criminal sanction in relation to prostitution should continue to fall more heavily on those who sell sex, rather than those who buy it."

As it is not illegal to sell sex then how is that relevant? There are some draconian laws that can be used to prosecute those who profit from prostitution, one of the reasons that you are not allowed to take money through the AW system. Although, I believe, it is not now illegal for a husband to live off his wife if she is a prostitute.

Why should a landlord of a property be prosecuted for, knowingly, allowing a prostitute to run a legal business from his property?

How can prostitution possibly be seen "as violence against women" if I am a consenting adult, acting out of personal choice and do not feel violated.

Trafficking: this is an issue we all agree on, a girl working for the benefit of others against her will, but how much of it actually goes on?

Trafficking can have two meanings:

1. A person can be considered to be trafficked if she is used for sexual exploitation against her will

2. A person can also be considered to be trafficked if she works for an organised business willingly and is moved around the country to work.

There are also other ways that females can be sexually exploited, these include being coerced to work as a prostitute by a lover / partner, although they are doing it willingly, it is still under duress if she is not happy about doing it.

The law really has no right to interfere with what consenting adults get up to in private.

Sarah x x x

[Nova70]

Both soliciting & kerb crawling are illegal so not relevant to the issue, so as you say, it is totally misleading. Nothing new there if you are trying to confuse what other think to get your objective across.

One of the issues being considered is "Whether criminal sanction in relation to prostitution should continue to fall more heavily on those who sell sex, rather than those who buy it."

As it is not illegal to sell sex then how is that relevant? There are some draconian laws that can be used to prosecute those who profit from prostitution, one of the reasons that you are not allowed to take money through the AW system. Although, I believe, it is not now illegal for a husband to live off his wife if she is a prostitute.

Why should a landlord of a property be prosecuted for, knowingly, allowing a prostitute to run a legal business from his property?

How can prostitution possibly be seen "as violence against women" if I am a consenting adult, acting out of personal choice and do not feel violated.

Trafficking: this is an issue we all agree on, a girl working for the benefit of others against her will, but how much of it actually goes on?

Trafficking can have two meanings:

1. A person can be considered to be trafficked if she is used for sexual exploitation against her will

2. A person can also be considered to be trafficked if she works for an organised business willingly and is moved around the country to work.

There are also other ways that females can be sexually exploited, these include being coerced to work as a prostitute by a lover / partner, although they are doing it willingly, it is still under duress if she is not happy about doing it.

The law really has no right to interfere with what consenting adults get up to in private.

Sarah x x x

An excellent post Sarah. How can it be viewed as violence against women ?, in the same way they view you being a prostitute in the first place, your a victim but you just don't realise it .......... do you feel patronised ?.

Trafficking should be dealt with as a separate issue because it's not only the sex industry that makes use of the trade in human beings.

As I've said it won't stop me doing it but I will be more cautious, for instance there are some well known apartment blocks in London where many of the residents are wgs and many of the visitors punters and these places could make tempting targets for publicity stunt Police raids to demonstrate the Law being enforced so it may be best to avoid places like that.

I'm curious as to how it may effect online advertising and forums, does AW still operate in the Countries who have already introduced such Laws, if I was unlucky enough to be arrested would the Police seize my phone and computer and could the things I've written on forums be used as evidence against me. This forum was created to support a commercial venture but they allow us to discuss wider issues ........ thank you, but I can't see that continuing if the Law is changed as we'd then be talking about an illegal activity and it would be perfectly understandable if we were no longer welcome.

[sarahxxx]

I have just thought of another side to this...

Proceeds of crime

Most of these discussions have always talked about the problems that punters would have with the police, but what about the girls? Although they have not done anything wrong, the money they have received could be considered as "proceeds of crime", as it would be illegal for the man to be paying for sex.

Sarah x x x

[Strawberryblonde]

Equally she is participating in a criminal act.

When applying for jobs, courses etc if sex work is mentioned (which some do) either historic, or current, one initial concern is whether the act is legal. I'm not convinced that criminalising one part, will aid those who wish to do other work or courses either in tandem, of afterwards. This could hinder women from exit, or simply contributing to society, and of course encourage covering up sex work to the extent that crimes go unreported.