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Fri 16 Jul, 2004 12:48 am
Quote:Licensed brothels planned in prostitution law shake-up
By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent, PA News
16 July 2004
Radical proposals to overhaul the law on prostitution were being unveiled by Home Secretary David Blunkett today.
The highly controversial option of decriminalising brothels was expected to be put forward in a major new consultation document.
Mr Blunkett hinted that brothels disguised as "legitimate" businesses such as massage parlours will no longer be tolerated.
"There is a growing trade in selling sexual services in premises licensed for other activity, including massage and also video and film," wrote the Home Secretary.
"Prostitution must not be concealed behind the fagade of legitimate business."
He admitted that existing laws were "outdated, confusing and ineffective".
Licensed brothels were expected to be one option put forward in today's document as a way of cleaning up the sex industry.
Ministers were also expected to ask for views on whether the government should go ahead with "tolerance zones" for street prostitution.
Some experts believe the zones could be set up in non-residential areas to keep "street walking" call girls and their clients away from passers-by.
The paper was expected to propose toughening the law against pimps, brothel keepers and clients.
But at the same time it was likely to propose new moves to help sex workers escape the industry - particularly by trying to sever the links between prostitution and organised crime.
It was likely to set out moves to reduce the number of prostitutes hooked on Class A drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine by offering adequate drug treatment, housing and education measures.
There must also be "the right intelligence-based approach" to tackle the "stranglehold of pimps" and the gangs trafficking women and girls into the UK to work in the sex trade, Mr Blunkett said.
It will be the first time in decades that the issues surrounding prostitution have been examined in such detail.
Mr Blunkett went on: "Many of the laws relating to prostitution are outdated, confusing and ineffective.
"Today's consultation paper is intended as the starting point for the development of a realistic and coherent strategy to deal with prostitution and its serious detrimental consequences for individuals and communities."
He said it was of "prime importance" to prevent women being drawn into prostitution early in their lives, as research showed seven out of 10 started as children or young teenagers.
"Their vulnerability and need for affection means they can be easy prey for those determined to exploit them," wrote the Home Secretary.
"Often they become trapped in a web of fear and deceit in which drug addiction, prostitution and responding to the demands of pimps becomes a way of life.
"This paper looks at the preventative measures that need to be in place as well as the support and protection required by those particularly at risk, or already drawn into this vicious cycle."
Up to 80,000 women are thought to work in the sex trade in Britain - including up to 5,000 children.
In London, the Metropolitan Police estimates 70% of call girls are illegal immigrants working off debts to people traffickers.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 introduced new offences with tough penalties to crack down on pimps and others who exploit children and adults through prostitution, making it an offence to traffic people into the UK for sexual exploitation.
A recent study found 70% of prostitutes had been in local authority care as children, 45% had been victims of child sexual abuse, 42% had been raped and all had been truant from school.
Up to 1,400 women may be trafficked into Britain for sexual exploitation a year, according to recent estimates.
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This article is closely connected:
Quote:PROSTITUTES NEED REAL SAFE HOUSES
13 July 2004
The British spend more each year on the sex trade than they do on visits to the cinema, a conference in Gloucestershire heard yesterday. As experts from the police, law courts, social services and voluntary organisations meet to discuss the best way to stamp down on prostitution, former Miss Whiplash, LINDI ST CLAIR, explains her views on the world's oldest profession WHAT would be wrong with having girls working in places of business and shopping centres - rather than being stuck out in the middle of nowhere?
What people never take into account when they are discussing the issue of prostitution, and particularly the girls who work out on the street, is where they go about their business and the conditions they have to endure.
The girls who work out on the streets are often the most desperate in the trade.
They will often be forced to have sex in appalling and dangerous conditions, down alleyways and in strangers' cars.
Not many people would want to work out in the open, late at night, in the wind, rain and the freezing cold.
They are exposed to enormous dangers and risks, not only in terms of their health, but also when it comes to their personal safety.
When the experts talk about having areas where prostitution is tolerated - so called "green light zones" - they never stop to think about the conditions prostitutes usually have to work under.
What I would like to see are safe houses with nice rooms, so the women can be looked after and protected properly.
These houses could be rented out to the girls and they could work from them in safety and comfort away from the street.
Proper health checks could be carried out by qualified doctors, and prostitutes would then have somewhere to go that would be nice and warm with proper washing facilities.
Not only would the girls be more comfortable, but the clients would also be able to relax and enjoy themselves more.
It makes no sense to continue with the current situation.
Men who use prostitutes don't necessarily want to be stuck out on a street corner.
They require a nice, comfortable experience.
When I was working in London I always made sure I paid my share to the taxman and kept up to date with my National Insurance payments.
But because prostitution is still illegal in this country, it is impossible to pay your taxes without falling foul of the law, like I did.
That means there is no way you can go to the bank and get a loan and a mortgage to set up your own business or flat.
What manager is going to give a loan to a prostitute?
Also, it is still illegal in this country to run a brothel or live off immoral earnings.
That makes it even harder to run a good business.
It is a vicious circle which forces many women on to the streets and places them in all sorts of danger.
The Government should take a stand and provide safe houses for the girls, with rooms in them that can be rented out at reasonable rates.
What we need to do is to go ahead and legalise prostitution, and that will get rid of all the problems linked to the trade in one swoop.
There is no logical reason why it has not been done already.
The fact is men will always go to prostitutes, and if we continue to criminalise prostitution, then all the risks and dangers are never going to just disappear.
It is about time someone with a bit of courage stepped forward and made the whole industry legal for the good of everyone involved.
Without the threat of the police, there would be no need for the pimps who make money out of the girls without contributing anything at all.
If prostitution was legalised, then working women wouldn't have to ply their trade in grim trading estates on the outskirts of towns and city centres.
I understand that some families wouldn't want to live next door to a working prostitute, but if the industry was properly controlled then it wouldn't necessarily have to be a problem.
It would be far worse living next door to one of these neighbours from hell who cause chaos at all times of the day and night, rather than a girl who runs a good respectable business.
Obviously you would not want to live next to someone who has strange people coming and going at all times of the day, and that is perfectly understandable.
Perhaps the best answer would be to have prostitutes working out of shopping centres in anonymous business units.
What we need in this country is a little bit of honesty about the whole issue rather than the hypocrisy we have to deal with now. n Lindi St Clair, whose real name is Marion Aken, is a former dominatrix who once entertained peers of the realm and bishops in the dungeon of her home. She now runs a farm and sells eggs in Herefordshire.
Whils this here is certainly more an aside :wink: :
Quote:Brothels told to offer work experience
German brothels are to be ordered to offer work experience and trainee posts if they want to continue doing business.
According to a draft bill that has been agreed by the coalition government, all companies with more than 10 staff members must provide work experience and training places.
And brothels are no exception, says the German Ministry for Education, Training and Research.
A number of Green Party politicians have called for an exception to be made for the sex industry.
They say it would lead to bordello owners registering fewer girls as staff members in order to avoid the extra costs affiliated with providing training.
In turn prostitutes who are not officially employed would receive no health insurance.
But the Education Ministry rejected the Greens' calls saying it would cause the lines between nightclubs and brothels to become blurred.
The Ministry added that because prostitution was not a profession as such, the trainee and work experience posts offered by brothels should be for people working alongside the prostitutes as waiters and waitresses, book-keepers or sales and marketing staff.
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ananova is not a serious source, they have,for an example, also write
this;-)
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