The following is the response, which I received today, to my email to my local MP, Rt Hon David Lammy, regarding the issue of closing down prostitution advertising websites:
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Thank you for writing to me about whether the UK should imitate the USA’s Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act. Unfortunately, an important vote in the House of Commons meant that I was unable to attend the debate. However, I have outlined my views on the subject below.
To address your comments, I wish to note the broader context in which this discussion takes place. Three interlinked factors mean that prostitutes are some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society. First, the criminalisation of sex work prevents prostitutes from exiting the trade and seeking help when they need it. It also forces sex workers to operate in a black market, exposing them to networks of organised criminals. Third, many women who enter into prostitution do so in desperation, with few other sources of income. This has resulted from years of cuts by consecutive Conservative governments resulting in decreased living standards for marginalised women. For instance, a report commissioned by the APPG on Race and Community, which I chair, found that lone mothers will see their living standards drop by 18% — an average of £8,790 — by 2020. Therefore, any Government response to prostitution must seek to protect the rights of sex workers, tackle the organised crime associated with prostitution, and address their material deprivation.
In the US, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act have failed to do any of this. Concerning the rights of sex workers, such legislation has restricted the activities of sex workers even further, making it harder for them access the assistance they need. It has also limited their ability to safely screen clients before meeting and forced them to find work through intermediaries, or on the streets. Meanwhile, a recent report by Human Rights Watch noted that both Acts have made it harder to punish sex-traffickers and pimps. In the past, these websites have proven a valuable source of intelligence for identifying and punishing such individuals, and in shutting them down, the Government has lost this insight. Finally, the legislation fails to discuss the material circumstances in which prostitutes enter, and occupy, the world of sex work.
I see little reason as to why the consequences of this legislation would be different in the UK and subsequently am opposed to its implementation. Proposals such as these reveal the inability of some politicians to respond to prostitution in a holistic and fact-based manner. If this Government is serious about helping vulnerable sex workers, they must focus on undoing the damage of years of cuts, protecting the rights of these vulnerable women and tackling organised crime.
Once again, I would like to thank you for drawing my attention to this issue. If you have any other concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Rt Hon David Lammy MP
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There is some obvious anti-Tory "grand-standing" going on here, IMO, but anyway...
