Punishment for the perpetrators of the sex trade, not its victims

It is only too right that men who buy sex should face potential prosecution and punishment.

The current legislation surrounding prostitution penalises prostitutes themselves, a large proportion of whom have been illegally trafficked into this country for use as sex workers, or driven to prostitution through poverty and drug abuse. Hardly the "free choice" that some people cite as a reason for legalising prostitution, or evidence that poverty-striken, crack addict or otherwise desperate women are often better off earning money in the sex trade than anywhere else. Nor is this a demonstration that prostitutes "know what they are doing" when they enter the sex trade; research has found that four fifths of London prostitutes are from abroad - mainly from eastern Europe and south east Asia - and a large number have come to this country on the understanding that they would be provided with jobs in restaurants or cafes, security and "a better way of life".

Current laws do, fortunately, crack down harshly on those men (and occasionally women) involved in the supplying of sex workers from foreign countries to the streets of Britain, but the men who actually pay for their services, provide the money and thus create the demand in the first place, get off scot free.

Eight years ago Sweden took the step of criminalising men who buy sex, and decriminalising the act of selling it, which has led to a huge decrease in the number of brothels, as well as significantly lowering the level of trafficking into the country.

Discussions at this stage in Britain include the naming and shaming of men caught kerb crawling, and changes in legislation to see the criminalisation of men paying for sex, though no concrete proposals have yet been made. The sooner the better. It's about time that in this country, where women's rights, the pay gap and gender equality are so high on the government agenda, something is done to punish the men who undermine the whole concept of women's rights, not to mention the self-respect of the individual women concerned. This rather than penalising the women themselves, who need help, not punishment.

Sources:
The Guardian
The New Statesman