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Prostitution Now Coalition Your Tax Dollars Are Being Wasted Ruining Citizens Lives Instead of fighting real crime |
Prostitution Reform Study in the U.K.Reforming a profession and taking on the rightwing moralists!January 2, 2004 Highlights from the GuardianAlmost 50 years on from the Wolfenden committee, the last comprehensive review of the laws on prostitution, there is an echo of a familiar theme. In the 1950s there was much public concern, stoked by an xenophobic press, about foreign pimps. Last week Luan Plakici, an Albanian who posed as a Kosovan asylum seeker, was found guilty of bringing 30 east European women to Britain and forcing them to work in illegal brothels in London, Bedford, Luton and Reading. But prostitution is a much more complex problem than just foreign pimps. A new Home Office-led review is promised.There are several grounds for applauding this move. First because a return to evidence-based policy-making is long overdue, not just in the Home Office, but across Whitehall. Secondly, because it is another sign that ministers are finally ready to take on rightwing moralists who generate so much social harm. Dave notes..."rightwing moralists who generate so much social harm." I like that :) A reason for welcoming the review is the confusion and contradictions in the current laws. Although prostitution is not illegal, some 35 separate offences, such as soliciting, criminalise the trade. One issue facing ministers is whether they should opt for "zones of toleration" or introduce legalised brothels. The problem with toleration zones is that they are only likely to be acceptable in rundown commercial zones, where there are no residents. Even a Church of England spokesman this week said it would prefer legalisation. Legalising the trade - as Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden have already done in different ways - offers sex workers much better protection from the three most common threats: pimps, violent clients and disease. It also means the work can be taxed. We Should Learn from Our Friends in the UK Prostitution laws face overhaul December 30, 2003 BBC NewsDave notes: Like most of the world except the U.S., private outcall prostitution is legal in the U.K. However street prostitution and incalls with more than one women in a flat is illegal.The GMB (major labor union) wants to de-stigmatise
sex work An overhaul of Britain's prostitution laws gives ministers a golden
chance to make women safer and free up police time, says a leading trade
union. The Home Office is due to unveil the first review of the prostitution
laws for 50 years early next year. A spokesman told BBC News Online: "It is
the right time to have a sensible debate and consider all the options." The
review will be published some time after January. |