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Street Prostitution and (de)criminalisation

Sali Harwood (Manager)

Sheffield Working Women’s Opportunities Project Ltd

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This presentation will

• Take a quick look at prostitution in the UK, and the law in England• Focus in more detail on street prostitution in Sheffield

and SWWOP’s role • Consider local approaches to regulating street

prostitution in the last twenty years• Examine recent contrasting approaches to

decriminalisation of prostitution in Sweden and Germany• Discuss the effectiveness of (de)criminalisation

approaches in safeguarding street prostitutes

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What is prostitution?

Prostitution is commonly defined as:

The exchange of sexual services for some form of payment – usually money but could be drugs,

accommodation, food etc.

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Prostitution law

Prostitution per se is not illegal in England and Wales…. however, certain activities are, including:

• Soliciting or loitering in a public place • Kerb-crawling• Living off immoral earnings• Trafficking

So who is affected by criminalisation?

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Prostitution, not sex work?

The importance of terminology:

The term ‘sex work’ implies that women have made a rational choice to sell sex

SWWOP views prostitution as exploitation of women

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Commercial Sex markets

Home office estimate: 88,000 women involved in UK

Hierarchy of prostitution:• Life style choice/variations in earnings• Agencies, saunas & brothels• At the bottom - street prostitutes

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Sex work vs street prostitution: who is most affected currently in England and Wales by criminalisation?

• High Class Prostitutes?• Escorts?• Madams?• Pimps?• Street Prostitutes?• Punters?

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Street prostitution in SheffieldBrief Overview:

• How many women

• Ages and ethnicity

• Reasons given for involvement

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What SWWOP offers

• Mobile outreach service

• Follow-on support & crisis intervention

• Exit support programme for women to leave street prostitution

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Realities of women’s lives

• Physical deprivation – homelessness, lack of food• Violence – physical and sexual assaults• Illness and injury – increase in risk taking behaviour

increases risk of harm• Drug and alcohol abuse• Isolation / ostracisation / social exclusion – impact on

mental and emotional health

• All on top of whatever life experiences led to prostitution in first place

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Local approaches to (de)criminalisation over the last 20 years

Prostitutes

• Arrest & Fines• ASBOs• Tolerance Zone Proposal• Arrest & ESOs

Punters

•No action• Traffic control measures• Shaming/naming• Letters Home

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Impact of local approaches on:

Street prostitutes

• Arrest and fines – revolving door

• ASBOs – increased potential penalties (up to 5 years imprisonment for infringement); drove activities underground; moved women into less safe areas

• Tolerance zone – much discussion, never a formal agreement

• Arrest and ESOs (engagement and support order)

Punters

• Traffic control – moves activities to new areas

• Naming/shaming – not rigorously enforced, little effect

• Letters home – ditto

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Is de(criminalisation) a local priority?• Policing of prostitution usually comes low down on list of

priorities compared to e.g. burglary• Discussion about new approaches usually linked to

regeneration initiatives etc. – depends on level of political interest• Murders get coverage but premature deaths don’t – five

street prostitutes (under 40) are known to have died in Sheffield this year

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Contrasting international approaches to decriminalisationTwo examples of differing approaches to decriminalisation:

• Sweden (Nordic Model)

• Germany

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Sweden (Nordic Model)

• A human rights and gender equality-based approach also known as the ‘Swedish model’.

• A set of laws and policies which penalises the demand & decriminalises individuals in prostitution • Main Goals:

Curb demandPromote equality

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Market principles of supply and demand.• Demand is created by the (mainly) men who pay for

commercial sex. Traffickers, pimps, brothel owners and other facilitators profit from this demand by supplying the women and girls who are exploited every day in the commercial sex industry.

• Sex trafficking does not just exist because its victims are vulnerable - it exists because there is a demand for commercial sex that traffickers can exploit and profit from.

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Sweden-

Decriminalised the selling of sex but criminalised the buying of sex

Prostitution is considered to be a social problem, and the law criminalizes the purchasers of sexual services in an attempt to reduce demand and change attitudes

• NB numbers of women involved initially increased but then dropped

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Swedish approach

ProsWomen escape revolving door of arrest & punishmentSupport services available for those wishing to exitTrafficking rates decreased

ConsDemand remainsActivities driven underground, with increased isolation and risk Stigma still exists

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Germany

Legal to buy or sell sex:

Intended to empower & safeguard prostitutes by strengthening their legal position

Germany legalised prostitution 2002 & it is now recognised as a regular job like any other. Sex workers now enter into employment contracts, pay tax, register for health insurance, pension plans & other benefits, and can sue for payment.

Exploiting women and children is still criminal

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German approach

Pros

Not caught up in judicial system

Should be safer with protection of law

Eligible for pensions etc.

Can get help with moving into other employment

Numbers of German prostitutes may have reduced

Cons

Few women have registered for national insurance (44 in Nov ‘13)

Has opened doors for other EU migrants to work – may have increased trafficking

Critics say now ‘bordello of Europe’

Social stigma still exists

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So… who would benefit most from decriminalisation or legalisation here?• High Class Prostitutes?• Escorts?• Madams?• Pimps?• Street Prostitutes?• Punters?• Traffickers?• Who is likely to have the most influence on policy making?

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What has worked in Sheffield so far?

Protecting and supporting street prostitutes within the existing system has been helped by:• Good partnership working with police and magistrates• Proactive support from other agencies (health, housing,

prisons etc.)

You can make most systems work for good or bad depending on how they’re implemented – but this doesn’t change attitudes

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What system would I advocate?

• Personally I would to see the ‘Nordic Model’ tried in Sheffield.• Why- Because I believe prostitution is exploitation and this model is

designed to change attitudes and behaviours.

• I would also like to see more work through education with young people on respecting and empathising with others in regards to all sorts of relationships

• In the interim I would like to see the Merseyside Model http://ruthjacobs.co.uk/2013/03/04/cry-for-the-merseyside-model-crimes-against-sex-workers-must-be-treated-as-hate-crimes-uk-wide/-

• It remains to be seen how effective decriminalisation is in changing attitudes and behaviour

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Links for prostitution policy articles

• Kilvington et al Prostitution Policy in Europe: a time of change• http://myweb.dal.ca/mgoodyea/Documents/Europe/Prostitution%20policy%20in%20Europe%20A%20tim

e%20of%20Change%20Kilvington%20Fem%20Rev%20%202001%20Spring%2067%2078-93.pdf • Sanders & Campbell Designing out vulnerability, building in respect: violence, safety and sex work

policy• http://myweb.dal.ca/mgoodyea/Documents/Health%20and%20wellbeing/Designing%20out%20vulnerabil

ity%20Sanders%20Br%20J%20Sociol%202007%2058(1).pdf • BBC News German prostitutes in rights plea• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4111738.stm • Prof. Dr. Barbara Kavemann, Ass. jur. Heike Rabe with the collaboration of Dipl. Soz. Päd. Claudia Fischer• The Act Regulating the Legal Situation of Prostitutes – implementatio, impact, current developments• http://www.cahrv.uni-osnabrueck.de/reddot/BroschuereProstGenglisch.pdf 

•  •  

• Paying the Price

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• Miriam SchimannekImpact of Prostitution Policies in Receiving Countries on Trafficking in Human Beings for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation at the Examples of Germany and Sweden• http://essay.utwente.nl/60186/1/BSc_M_Schimannek.pdf • The Local 3.7.10 Sweden's prostitution law a success: report-http

://www.thelocal.se/27580/20100703/  • Julie Bindel and Liz Kelly-• A Critical Examination of Responses to Prostitution in Four Countries: Victoria, Australia;

Ireland; the Netherlands; and Sweden • http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/nr/rdonlyres/c19e010b-1a4f-4918-97bd-f96af7d7f150/0/mainreport.p

df

• Dana Lynn Radatz Systematic approach to prostitution laws : a literature review and further suggestions

• http://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1230&context=theses 

 http://www.policingtoday.co.uk/victimcentred_83296.aspx (The Merseyside Model)

Cont.