Advertising
62. We
were concerned that the growth in the number of 'adult entertainment'
establishments, such as lap dancing clubs, and the ease with which
these businesses advertised themselves (particularly in local
newspapers) were fuelling demand for sex workers and therefore
indirectly for sex trafficking. The Poppy Project was of this
view, noting that newspaper adverts often referred to women of
particular ethnic origins being 'newly arrived'. Chief Constable
Maxwell, speaking on behalf of both the UKHTC and ACPO, also thought
adverts for personal services encouraged trafficking. He suggested
that editors should come to an agreement not to accept such adverts.[117]
63. We invited the Society of Editors
to give oral evidence to us; it declined. However, one of the
companies that owns a substantial number of local newspapers,
Newsquest, agreed to give evidence. A few weeks before it was
scheduled to appear before us, Newsquest decided to stop taking
classified advertisements for 'adult' services, which, we were
told, had resulted in a substantial loss of incomebetween
£200,000 and £250,000 for the Hampshire region alone.
The Editor-in-Chief of the Southern Daily Echo, representing
Newsquest, said that he had become aware of such adverts creeping
into newspapers only over the previous ten years. We also asked
what, if anything, had happened to the adverts his group now rejected.
He reported that the Hampshire police thought they were moving
onto the Internet. We
also asked him whether any guidance on this area was available
from the Society of Editors or Newspaper Society: the guidance
from the Society of Editors simply stated that it was for individual
newspapers to decide whether to take such adverts, and the Newspaper
Society advised that if editors noticed adverts that were clearly
for sex establishments, they should tell the advertising manager
not to accept them. The Editor said that he would welcome guidelines
from the Society of Editors.[118]
64. We welcome
Newquest's decision; and urge other local newspapers to follow
that lead and the Society of Editors to issue clear guidelines
that newspapers should not accept advertisements for sex encounter
establishments.
Legislation on the sex industry
65. While
we were pursuing this inquiry, the Government announced that it
would propose legislation to make having sexual intercourse with
prostitutes "controlled for gain"including those
trafficked into prostitution a strict liability offence:
in other words, it would not be a defence to claim that you did
not know the prostitute was controlled by someone else or had
been trafficked. A strict liability offence already existing in
this area of the law is that of having sexual intercourse with
an underage person. The Minister for Equality defended the Government's
proposals to us, arguing that the majority of off-street prostitution
was controlled by organised crime gangs who bought and sold women
to work in the brothels, and that the prostitutes' clients rarely
helped them even when the women made it clear that they were being
coerced.[119] The Minister
echoed one of the messages given by the Blue Blindfold campaign,
summarised by the UKHTC as "if a man has sex with a trafficked
woman, whether he thinks he has paid for it or not, he has raped
that woman".[120]
66. The provisions
to give effect to the Government's proposals have been introduced
as part of the Policing and Crime Bill, currently awaiting its
Report stage in the House of Commons.[121]
Some of the organisations representing prostitutes have objected
to the introduction of such an offence, arguing that it would
be likely to drive prostitution further underground, increase
the control exercised by violent criminals over the trade, deter
the more law-abiding clientswho, they claim, are more likely
to report concerns about potential trafficking to the authoritiesand
in general make it more difficult to protect sex workers.[122]
Police officers whom we have questioned have different concerns:
they think in practice it would be very difficult to enforce a
strict liability law in this area.
67. We do not
intend to comment on the moral and practical arguments about the
desirability of de-criminalising or further criminalising prostitution
in the UK, as this was not part of our terms of reference in undertaking
this inquiry. We do, however, wish to draw to the Government's
attention the serious concerns expressed to us by police officers
about the practicability of enforcing the proposed legislation.
87 Q 329 Back
88
Qq 244-245 and 256 Stop the Traffik had some doubts about the
efficacy of the Blue Blindfold campaign to increase awareness
among the general public: Ev 250, para 3 Back
89
Ev 214, paras 3.1-4.1 Back
90
Q 128 Back
91
The Gangmasters Licensing Authority says: "no one must be
retained against their will, whether or not there is a debt owing.
If a worker is lent money by the gangmaster to meet travel or
other expenses in order to take up a position, they must be provided
with details in writing of the amount loaned and the agreed repayment
terms. If loan repayments are deducted from workers' wages, they
must give their written permission for this to be done":
Ev 215, para 6.3 Back
92
Ev 215, paras 6.1-6.2 and Q 118 The Authority has subsequently
found evidence of forced labour in two more cases: Ev 213, paras
2-7 Back
93
Qq 126-127 and Ev 218, para 8.1 Back
94
Q 134 Back
95
Ev 213, para 3 Back
96
Q 134 Back
97
The inspectorate deals with both employment agencies and employment
businesses, as defined by sections 13(2) and 13(3) of the Employment
Agencies Act 1973. In essence, agencies introduce workers for
direct employment by the final employer, while an employment business
supplies individuals whom it employs to hirers under temporary
contracts. Back
98
Paragraphs 21-23 and 29-30 Back
99
Q 33 (Anti-Slavery international) Back
100
These are reviews of the appropriateness of the burdens placed
upon employers etc by regulatory authorities. Back
101
Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate Annual Report for
2007-08, December 2008, pages 7-8 and 14 Back
102
Qq 135 (Gangmasters Licensing Authority) and 536 (Minister) Back
103
Vulnerable Worker Enforcement Forum - Final Report and Government
Conclusions, August 2008 Back
104
Q 20 (Anti-Slavery International) Back
105
Ibid., paras 7.9-7.11 Back
106
Ibid., Executive Summary, p7 Back
107
See paragraphs 133 below Back
108
Q 34 (Anti-Slavery International); Ev 120, para 16 and Ev 122
(Kalayaan) The relevant guidance is contained in the Immigration
Directorate's Instructions issued in December 2002, Chapter 5,
Section 12, para 3.3 Back
109
Q 135 Back
110
Qq 32 (Anti-Slavery International) and 536 (Minister) Back
111
We discuss this further in the next chapter, paragraphs 120ff. Back
112
Ev 118, paras 5-6 Back
113
Ev 117, para 2 (Kalayaan) Back
114
Ev 117 and 119, paras 11-12 Back
115
Ev 179, para 62 Back
116
Ev 180, para 67 Back
117
Qq 59 (Poppy Project) and 250-251 (Maxwell) Back
118
Qq 290-292, 297, 299 and 310-311 Back
119
Qq 493-497 Back
120
Q 256 Back
121
Clauses 13-14 of the Bill as reported from Committee Back
122
See, for example, the written evidence from the International
Union of Sex Workers, Ev 231-239 Back