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Current legal statusEngland and Wales
Although previous acts still remain in force, the Policing and Crime Act 2009 (together with the Sexual Offences Act 2003) replaced most aspects of previous legislation relating to prostitution. An important change resulting from the 2009 act was the amendment of the laws on soliciting and loitering for the purposes of prostitution. The main differences involve the shifting of focus from the prostitutes to the customers. Before 1 April 2010, it was illegal for a customer to kerb crawl/solicit only if this was done "persistently", or "in a manner likely to cause annoyance". Today, all forms of public solicitation by a customer are illegal, regardless of the manner in which the prostitute was solicited. The act also makes it an offence for someone to pay or promise to pay a prostitute who has been subject to "exploitive conduct". The law now applies to male as well as female prostitutes because the term "common prostitute" has been replaced with "person". Before 1 April 2010, a prostitute was committing a crime by soliciting/loitering in a public place more than once in a period of one month. Today, he/she commits a crime if he/she does it more than once in a period of three months.
ProstitutesStreet prostitution is illegal. It is an offence to loiter or solicit persistently in a street or public place for the purpose of offering ones services as a prostitute. The term "prostitute" is defined as someone who has offered or provided sexual services to another person in return for a financial arrangement on at least one previous occasion. To demonstrate "persistence" under the current legislation, two police officers must witness the activity and administer a non-statutory prostitute caution. This caution differs from an ordinary police caution in that the behaviour leading to a caution need not itself be evidence of a criminal offence. There is no requirement for a man or woman to admit guilt before being given a prostitutes caution and there is no right of appeal. Working as a prostitute in private is not an offence, and neither is working as an outcall escort. Nor is it illegal for prostitutes to sell sex at a brothel provided they are not involved in management or control of the brothel.[36]
CustomersSoliciting someone for the purpose of obtaining their sexual services as a prostitute is an offence if the soliciting takes place in a street or public place (whether in a vehicle or not). This is a broader restriction than the 1985 ban on kerb-crawling. It is now also an offence to make or promise payment for the sexual services of a prostitute if the prostitute has been subjected to "exploitative conduct" (force, threats or deception) in order to bring about such an arrangement for gain. This is a strict liability offence (clients can be prosecuted even if they didn’t know the prostitute was forced).[35] Additionally there exists an offence of paying for sexual services of a child (anyone under 18).
Third partiesThere are various third party offences relating to prostitution. For instance, causing or inciting another person to become a prostitute for gain is an offence.[37] Pimping (controlling the activities of another person relating to that person’s prostitution for gain) is also illegal.[38] Similarly brothelkeeping is illegal. It is an offence for a person to keep, or to manage, or act or assist in the management of, a brothel.[39] Note that the definition of a brothel in English law is "a place where people are allowed to resort for illicit intercourse". It is not necessary that the premises are used for the purposes of prostitution since a brothel exists wherever more than one person offers sexual intercourse, whether for payment or not. Thus the prohibition on brothels covers premises where people go for non-commercial sexual encounters, such as certain saunas and adult clubs.[36] However, premises which are frequented by men for intercourse with only one woman are not a brothel,[40] and this is so whether she is a tenant or not.[41] Thus in practice to avoid committing this offence a prostitute who works in private must work alone. Additionally there exists an offence of causing, inciting, controlling, arranging or facilitating child prostitution.
AdvertisingAdvertising for the services of prostitutes is usually expressed in euphemistic language, partly as an attempt to avoid prosecution and partly as an expression of British cultural values. Prostitutes advertise in contact magazines despite a common law offence of "conspiracy to corrupt public morals" which was created in 1962 to prohibit such advertising.[42] Adverts for prostitutes are also placed in public telephone boxes (where they are known as tart cards) despite the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 making such advertising an offence. Adverts are also placed in newspapers, which is not in itself illegal. However, a newspaper which carries advertising for illegal establishments and activities such as brothels or venues where sexual services are offered illegally may be liable to prosecution for money laundering offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. This is the case even if such places are advertised under the guise of massage parlours and saunas. Some police forces have local policies in place for enforcement against prostitution services advertised in the local press. Newspaper companies sometimes adopt a policy of refusing all advertisements for personal services.[36] More recently, social media have become a common way to attract clients.[43]
Northern IrelandMain article: Prostitution in Northern Ireland
It will be illegal to pay for sex in Northern Ireland from 1 June 2015 as a result of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 which was enacted in January 2015.[3] Until then, prostitution in Northern Ireland remains legal as elsewhere in the United Kingdom, subject to a number of similar restraints.
ScotlandMain article: Prostitution in Scotland
Since devolution in 1998 the Scottish Parliament has started to pursue an independent policy to prostitution which had been historically similar to England since the Act of Union.
Street prostitution is dealt with under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, section 46(1). Kerb crawling, soliciting a prostitute for sex in a public place and loitering for the same purpose are also criminal under the Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007. There was formerly no specific offence directed at clients in Scotland in contrast to the “kerb crawling” offence in England and Wales in the Sexual Offences Act 1985.
A Prostitution Tolerance Zones Bill was introduced into the Scottish Parliament but failed to become law. A number of attempts have been made to criminalise the purchase of sex but all have failed.
Reform of prostitution lawsThe debate about the legal situation of prostitution in the UK centres around whether the UK should follow the example of the Netherlands, Germany or New Zealand and tolerate prostitution, or whether the country should make it illegal to pay for sex, like in Sweden, Norway and Iceland (a situation sometimes described as the Nordic model of prostitution).
