'No more excuses' for men who use prostitutes, says Smith

Men who have sex with women who have been trafficked or forced into prostitution will face prosecution under a shake-up of vice laws unveiled today by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

Ms Smith said the tough new approach will mean there are "no more excuses" for men who use the country's estimated 80,000 prostitutes.

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Under the changes, paying for sex with a woman "controlled for another's gain" will become a "strict liability offence" in England and Wales, meaning prosecutors will not have to prove that the man knew a prostitute was being exploited in order to charge him.

Ignorance of the woman's circumstances will be no defence and those convicted will get a criminal record and a fine of up to £1,000.

In cases where the man knows that the woman is working as a prostitute against her will, he could be charged with rape, which carries a potential life jail sentence.

Today's proposals, drawn up following a six-month review which looked at vice laws in countries including Sweden and the Netherlands, will also allow kerb-crawlers to be prosecuted for a first offence, rather than persistent activity.

And police will have greater powers to shut down brothels associated with sexual exploitation, without having to prove that they are linked to class A drug use or anti-social behaviour.

Ms Smith said the Home Office considered banning payment for sex outright - as proposed by women's minister Harriet Harman - but found that there was no public support for it.

She said: "I want to do everything we can to protect the thousands of vulnerable women coerced, exploited or trafficked into prostitution in our country and to bring those who take advantage of them to justice.

"That is why I am determined to shift the focus onto the sex buyer, the person responsible for creating the demand for prostitution markets which in turn creates demand for the vile trade of women being trafficked for sexual exploitation.

"There will be no more excuses for those who pay for sex. This new criminal offence of paying for sex with someone who is trafficked or pimped will apply even if the buyer claims he did not know the woman was being controlled for gain.

"I also want to tackle kerb crawling. In my book, once around the block is once too many, and so I'm making kerb-crawling punishable as a first offence. I also want to see more naming and shaming of persistent kerb crawlers."

The changes bring the law in England and Wales more closely into line with Scotland, where anyone trying to pick up a prostitute faces a possible fine of up to £1,000.

Cari Mitchell, of the English Collective of Prostitutes, warned that laws supposedly targeted only at women suffering exploitation would have a damaging impact on those who sell sex by their own choice.

"Bitter experience tells us that any law against consenting sex forces prostitution further underground and makes women more vulnerable to violence," she said.

"Under the proposed offence, any client of a woman working for another could be convicted. But what is his crime? The woman is working voluntarily and is likely to be making a better income than most women in commonly available low-waged jobs."

Ms Smith said she recognised that some women make a free choice to work as prostitutes, but did not accept the argument that economic circumstances leave them with no alternative means of supporting themselves and their families.

She told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour: "My argument with the English Collective of Prostitutes is that somehow there seems to be an implication that it isn't underground and doesn't involve exploitation and these are all women making a free choice at the moment.

"I am afraid that everything we have discovered from enforcement action and through talking to prostitutes is that this is not the case.

"We have already got a problem with trafficking. We have already got a situation where a majority of women - even when they haven't been trafficked - say they want to get out of prostitution, and quite often got involved in it under the age of 18 effectively as children."

National marketing campaigns will aim to raise awareness among men who use prostitutes of the kerb crawling offence and the realities of trafficking.

Gloucestershire Chief Constable Dr Timothy Brain, who speaks for the Association of Chief Police Officers on prostitution and vice, said the Government had signalled its intention to bring about a "sea change" in attitudes towards prostitution.

"Any man who intends to pay for sex with a prostitute will have to think very carefully because it will be no defence in future to claim that they did not know someone was trafficked or controlled by someone else for gain," he said.

"Measures to close brothels are to be welcomed and will give police powers to protect neighbourhoods from the nuisance and harm they create."

Denise Marshall, chief executive of the Eaves Poppy Project, which supports trafficked women, said: "We are delighted that the Government is taking a stance on this issue and will criminalise men who buy sex from these vulnerable women."

But shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said: "The Government's proposals will not protect the most vulnerable victims. Rather than creating new laws, the Home Secretary should focus on enforcing existing laws.

"But in the last year alone, the Met Police's human trafficking unit has been axed, and convictions for trafficking for sexual exploitation fell by 40%."

Conservative women's spokeswoman Theresa May added: "Once again the Government's answer is to reach for new legislation.

"The risk is this will force this activity even further underground, putting vulnerable women in even more danger.

"The Government should be doing more to help women who find themselves forced into prostitution."