Despite what some people may think, it is not illegal to be an escort. Having sex for money or other goods has never been illegal in the UK. (It’s actually arguably more acceptable to charge for your sexual skills than your cooking or brewing skills - you need a certificate or licence for the latter two!)
However, many associated activities are: soliciting on the street or other public place - this is why most people think prostitution is illegal); owning, running or allowing a brothel (anywhere two or more people are offering sex, even if not at the same time, and even if not for money); controlling other people’s prostitution for gain (‘pimping’, running an agency etc).
The UK is made up of three separate legal systems: laws differ in ‘England & Wales’, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.* The basics are mostly the same, and where they differ, we’ll say so.
How laws are created
Some laws are created by Parliament: we’ll mention several. This is ‘statute law’.
Some laws are held to be ‘stuff everyone knows’ - people with actual legal qualifications call this ‘common law’ - and is made up by judges.
Some laws are created via a judge’s opinion in a case (‘case law’) typically based on their interpretation of a bit of statute law. Because it’s thought to be a good thing if courts give the same verdict in cases with the same sort of evidence, a sufficiently senior judge’s opinion can be referred to and followed hundreds of years after it happened.
Some laws are made by other bits of government: some local authorities can create ‘by-laws’ that only apply in their area.
Regardless of where they come from, not all laws make sense.
Not all laws are enforced, and it can be particularly important to know if police are enforcing a particular law in your area.
Even if they don’t make sense and aren’t being enforced, doing something ‘illegal’ can have consequences for things like renting somewhere or for insurance purposes.
England & Wales - from 2004
The introduction of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 changed several things.
A definition of ‘prostitute’: someone who
Age: It’s illegal to pay someone
/* (Why isn’t Wales separate? It was conquered by the English nearly five centuries before Scotland chose to merge with England in 1707 in a way that kept things like its own legal system.)
This is not legal Advice. For that, you need to speak to a solicitor or some other qualified person.
It is a specialised area, so it might be difficult to find someone who knows what they’re talking about.