British sex buyers will be fined according to the new law
November 19, 2008
In a bid to curb human trafficking, the British government is planning a law under which it will be illegal to pay for sex with a prostitute who is controlled by a pimp or trafficker. However, paying for consensual sex would be legal, but a prostitute support group said the plans could make life more dangerous for the women by scaring away safer clients.
According to the new law, clients would be subjected to prosecution even if they paid for sex believing a woman was operating independently, when that was later shown to be incorrect. Smith told Sky News she wanted to change the law to protect vulnerable women by reducing the demand for paid sex.
“I hope that men will think twice about the fact that probably the majority of women in prostitution… are effectively as good as slaves. If you are paying for that, you are part of the problem. Men may face a fine up to £1,000 and a criminal record if found guilty. Ignorance of a prostitute’s dependency would not be a defense.”
Niki Adams of the English Collective of Prostitutes disputed the claim of Smith who said around 80,000 women working as prostitutes in Britain and most did so against their will. Adams told BBC radio:
“Most women are not working for pimps. Most women are not trafficked.”
She added:
“What we do know is that women from all kinds of walks of life, also working as teachers and students, are working in prostitution. And it is consenting sex. Women are going to end up taking more risk to get the same kind of business in an economic crisis. There is nothing in these proposals to address homelessness and domestic violence which the government itself acknowledges are factors that force women into prostitution.”
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