header-logo header-logo

Zero tolerance

10 January 2008 / Richard Scorer
Issue: 7303 / Categories: Features , Public , Profession , Constitutional law
printer mail-detail

Should the government criminalise the buying of sex? Richard Scorer reports

Harriet Harman QC, leader of the House of Commons, says the government is considering changing the law on prostitution to make the buying of sexual services a criminal offence. The government’s aim is to counter the growth in trafficking of women and children into the for sexual exploitation.

 

Harman’s proposal is modelled on legislation in in 1999 which criminalised the buying of sex and decriminalised the selling of it. The principle underlying this legislation is explained by the Swedish government: “In prostitution is regarded as an aspect of violence against women and children…gender inequality will remain unattainable so long as men buy, sell and exploit women and children by prostituting them.” The Swedish law provides for prison sentences of up to six months for the buyers of sexual services, six years for pimps and 10 years for traffickers of prostitutes.

“Banning prostitution would simply drive it underground, putting prostitutes at greater risk of assault and exploitation”

 

CURRENT LAWS

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll