Govt unveils anti-prostitute law
Wednesday, 19 November 2008 12:00 AM
Home Office plans to criminalise the buying of sex from women "controlled for another person's gain" will be officially unveiled today.
The plans are ostensibly to stop human trafficking, but government sources privately admit around 90 per cent of transactions would be covered by the law.
The only way a prostitute can now escape the legislation would be to work entirely on his or her own.
"Controlled for another person's gain" can also stand for pimps or even landlords of the premises they work in.
Many critics are concerned the law will drive vulnerable women further underground.
Nicki Adams from the British Collective of Prostitutes condemned the plans.
They do "nothing to address the poverty, debt, homelessness and domestic violence which the government itself acknowledges are factors forcing women into prostitution," she said.
The legislation is the result of a 6 month review looking at other countries such as Sweden and The Netherland's approaches to prostitution.
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