Legitimising Prostitution (ie Pimps & Punters)
The sex trade lobby states prostitution ‘is just work’, stigma is the real issue for those selling sex and any other harm can be minimised through regulation. It calls not just for those selling sex to be decriminalised but for pimps and punters too. This legitimisation takes the form of ‘full decriminalisation’ or ‘legalisation’. See if you can spot the difference in this report! Either way, these are the (predicitable) consequences:
Globally
Evidence across the globe shows that legitimising the sex trade makes it more harmful, not less, with increases in abuse, trafficking, child rape prostitution & more:
Legalising prostitution increases trafficking
Study across 150 countries
Legitimising prostitution increases trafficking
EU report
Why legalising increases abuse
Economic theory and the sex trade
Sex Trafficking harder to prevent when prostitution legitimised
Myths of Prostitution (interviews with survivors)
Country-by-Country
Australia
Some states have ‘legalised’, some ‘decriminalised’ prostitution
Overview: How legitimising the sex trade has failed
Book: ‘Making Sex Work’ in Australia
Simone Watson (survivor/campaigner) explains the harms of the Australian system
Germany
Prostitution Legalised (pimps/punters decriminalised, state makes money from it).
Previously Decriminalised (pimps/punters decriminalised, state made no money from it) :
Deaths with 1/2 million in state brothels
Yearly murders/Attempted murders
Review of Murders of Women in Prostitution
The truth about Germany’s Mega Brothel
Germany – a key destination for traffickers
Germany – Exploitation and Trafficking
German sex trade – an overview
90% of the prostituted are migrant women
Holland
Prostitution legalised
Brothels ‘A failed social experiment’: Mayor of Amsterdam
Holland to criminalise men who buy trafficked women
Holland moves to end sex trade entirely
Ipswich pre 2006
Penalise the prostituted/legitimise the industry
Both approaches tried. 5 women murdered by serial killer
Leeds
Prostitution allowed in a ‘managed zone’, in Holbeck
Holbeck: A case study of hell
Women selling sex criminalised, not punters
Leeds shuts the ‘Managed Zone’ after 6 years of failure [2021]
Nevada
Prostitution Legalised
A hub for sex trafficking & murder
New Zealand
Prostitution ‘fully decriminalised’ (ie pimps & punters decriminalised, not just those who sell sex, with little state control)
A destination for trafficking & child rape prostitution
Indigenous women and children the target for traffickers
How Law has increased harm for the prostituted
Analysis of Child sex trafficking in New Zealand
Survivor speaks out against decriminalising pimps
Prime Minister ‘Law hasn’t worked’ [2012]
Switzerland
Prostitution (including pimps and punters) legalised 80 years ago, this includes ‘drive thru’ brothels
The Brutal Reality of 80 years of legalisation
UK
Although pimping, brothel keeping and kerb crawling are illegal, this is essentially ignored with brothels, saunas, massage parlous and escort agencies operating openly UK-wide. Lap dancing (an entry point to prostitution) is fully legitimised as is ‘sugaring’, webcamming and other branches of the industry
UK – a ‘trafficking hub’ for Romanian women
Most women in lap dancing then sell sex (Home Office, 2019 p27)
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The Wider Impact
Prostitution isn’t just about those in prostitution – it affects us all.
Sex buyers more likely to rape women (prostituted or otherwise)
Sex buyers have increased criminal/violence tendencies against women
Acceptance of prostitution correlates to assessment of sexual harassment
The Nordic Model: Exit & Prevent
[Video: Alan Caton, OBE, explains the success of the Nordic Model in Ipswich]Many human rights groups see prostitution as inherently and overwhelmingly harmful. So they advocate for ending the demand for prostitution (surprisingly easily achieved), criminalising pimps and supporting women out – the ‘Nordic Model’.
Abolitionists call for all prostituted people to be supported out, pimps criminalised and punters deterred. Where properly implemented, this is hugely successful:
The ‘Nordic’ Model
Criminalise pimps/punters support prostituted out
Comparison of different systems
Decriminalising pimps vs criminalising pimps
70 prostituted women murdered in Germany; zero in Sweden
European Commission
Report on tackling trafficking
Country-by-Country
Research indicates that, when properly implemented, the Nordic Model is a resounding success:
Canada
Introduces Nordic Model in 2014 after serial killer targeted native women in the sex trade
Ineffective as Law not properly implemented
Ipswich
Introduces Nordic Model in 2006 following serial murders of women in sex trade
Street Prostitution eradicated
France
Introduces Nordic Model in 2016
Nearly 400 exit programmes out of prostitution
Review shows Law effective when implemented properly
Israel
Introduces Nordic Model in 2020. Prior to that reported pimps keep most of the earnings
Ireland
Introduces Nordic Model in 2017
Early evidence shows shift to criminalise buyers not sellers (p 12-13)
Sweden
Introduces Nordic Model in 1999
Large decrease in trafficking, child rape prostitution, violence
The Sex Trade & Covid
Clearly selling sex puts you at high risk of Covid (and multiple other risks). Where the sex trade has been legitimised, it is those till desperately selling sex who are criminalised for ‘rule breaking’. Meanwhile, ‘Sex Worker Unions’ lead the call for the industry to re-open, even during the midst of the pandemic, instead of demanding women are helped out of a totally unviable industry.
Canada: Covid outbreak at strip club
Germany: Mega brothel shuts
Germany: Those who sell sex criminalised during lock down
Leeds: Those who sell sex criminalised, not pimps or punters
Switzerland: Sex industry re-opened before contact sport
Ireland: Exploitation as usual
Comprehensive review: The sex trade during Covid
Sex Buyers during Covid
Prostitution Inevitable?
The ‘oldest oppression’ is often described as inevitable and unstoppable, so the best we can do is ‘manage’ it. But the reason for its very existence – men’s demand – can actually easily be eradicated, essentially over night.
Chicago: 90% men deterred by being publicly exposed
France: 80% buyers ‘would never do it again’ after hearing testimony of survivors
Ipswich 2006: policing, zero tolerance, CCTV eradicates kerb crawling within 1 year
Scotland: Up to 90% sex buyers deterred merely by fines/points off driving license
UK: How to bust the business model of trafficking
The Human Cost of the Sex Trade
Abuse prior to entry
50% were homeless
45% sexually abused as children
Abuse in the sex trade
20-40% globally of those selling sex started as adolescents
up to 50% of women in prostitution started when under 18
95% of women in street prostitution are Class A drug users
70% have PTSD on a par with a torture victim
Women in prostitution with children likely to be separated from them
Mortality rate up to 12 times higher than average
Women in prostitution up to 18 times more likely to be murdered
‘Women in prostitution 10 times more likely to be murdered than a soldier’
90% of women want to escape prostitution across the globe
The Financial Cost of the Sex Trade
The financial costs of prostitution are astronomical to those in it as well as the state (from the increased cost of social care to the huge criminal costs that go hand-in-hand with the industry)
Cost to Women in the Industry: Long term negative impact on earnings over a lifetime (p20)
France – Prostitution costs the state €1.3 billion/year
UK – Prostitution costs the State £2 billion/year (p20)
Leeds – Prostitution ‘zone’ costs £200,000/year (p24)
Leeds – Campaigners estimate the zones costs more than £400,000/year
The Cost of Ending Prostitution
Ending the sex trade – getting women out and eliminating demand, is hugely cost effective. It is infinitely cheaper than enabling prostitution. The above infographic still probably doesn’t cover the full cost of prostitution (the organised crime, county lines, drugs, corruption of democracy etc).
Ipswich -Eradicating Street Prostitution: £7,000 per woman per year
France €2.35 million seized within 4 years from pimps, reallocated to victims
UK – APPG Prostitution 2:1 Return on Investment in exit support & ending demand
The Buyers
Apparently it’s not pimps or punters that kill, drive women to suicide or lead to dissociation & PTSD. No, it’s stigma. Apparently decriminalising pimps and punters ends stigma. But sex buyers in countries that have done this have appalling attitudes towards the women they buy. Legitimising the sex trade does just that – legitimises the sex trade, ie the pimps, the punters, the traffickers & their attitudes, not the women who are bought and sold
Sex Buyers during Covid
Sex Trade Advocates
‘Sex worker’ ‘unions’, human rights groups, academics, funders, even ‘sex work’ outreach groups, anti-trafficking NGOs and ‘Marxists’ are falling over themselves to support the sex trade:
‘Sex Worker’ ‘Unions’ – full of Pimps
Intenational ‘Sex Worker’ Union (NSWP): Led by Pimp and convicted Sex Trafficker
NSWP Mexico: Chairwoman jailed for sex trafficking
‘Sex Worker’ Unions: Full of pimps, not the prostituted
Australia: ‘Erotic Services Provider Union’: Led by a convicted pimp
France: ‘Sex Workers’ group (STRASS): ‘a handful of members’
Germany: Sex Worker Union (BesD): Represents 0.01% of those who sell sex
Holland: ‘Sex Worker’ Group (Red Thread): Led by academics who minimise harm
Spain: ‘Sex Worker’ Group (Ambit Dona): None of it members had been in prostitution
UK International Union of Sex Workers (IUSW): Run by a pimp
‘Sex Workers’ in other Unions?
Not only are those selling sex not represented by ‘sex worker unions’, they do not join mainstream unions either. That is because joining a union makes it even harder to do the one think they really want – get out
Germany: Trade Union: Membership opened to prostituted – a handful joined
Germany: 1 million in prostitution, 1% registered with Trade Unions
Spain: Existing Trade Union: Membership opened to prostituted – not one joined
Survivor, Hushke Mau: ‘Join a Union & it is impossible to get out of this ‘job”
‘Sex Worker’ ‘Unions’ – Advocate for Pimps
International [NSWP]: Claims their sex trafficker leader is ‘human rights defender’
Sex Worker’ Unions: Murders ignored in places where pimps decriminalised
Sex Worker’ Unions: Uses domestic violence murder to claim ‘stigma kills’
‘Sex Worker’ groups: No support for wiping criminal records for the prostituted
German: Sex Worker support group (SUBWAY): ‘Goal is not to get people out of prostitution’
India: ‘Sex Worker’ NGO (SANGRAM): Cut off from US funding for enabling pimps
New Zealand: (NZPC): Lies & misinformation given to those who sell sex
Survivor speaks out against ‘Sex Worker Unions’
Other Unions
The ‘Sex Worker Unions’ (run by and for pimps) have been busy advocating other unions to support them (ie pimps) and to themselves then lobby for pimps to be decriminalised. Clever, eh?
UK: Junior Doctors: Policy is to lobby BMA to support decriminalising pimps
UK: Nurses Union: Now advocates for decriminalising pimps
UK: GMB, ASLEF, TUC Union: Tactics used by the pimp lobby to ‘woo’ Trade Unions
‘Human Rights’ Advocates
The 2021 list of NGOs and individuals taken in by the pimp lobby
UN Aids/UN Women: Adopts policies of known pimp and (since jailed) sex trafficker
UN: Calls for decriminalising pimps & punters
WHO: ‘decriminalise pimps & punters to reduce spread of HIV’
#MeToo and #TimesUp: ‘Survivor’s Agenda’ views pimps as business men
Amnesty International: Policies dictated by UK’s largest pimp
Global Fund for Women: pro prostitution*
CARE International: appears to endorse prostitution*
Human Rights Watch: wants to decriminalise pimps*
Open Society Initiative: Staunchly pro-decriminalising pimps*
*from Julie Bindel’s ‘The Pimping of Prostitution’ Chap 7
Political Institutions
EU: European Commission – States can add prostitution ‘revenue’ to GDP
Holland: Government founded & funds ‘Red Thread’, a pro pimp NGO
UK: Governments and others: In Denial
UK: Government: Chair of enquiry into prostitution is a sex buyer
UK: Move to introduce Nordic Model defeated after intense lobby by pimp lobby
UK: Lib Dems Party Policy Pro-pimp/porn/sex trafficking & Anti-age verification
UK: Scottish Lib Dems: Vote (in 2019) by 2:1 to continue pimp decriminalisation policy
UK: Green Party Policy: Pro porn/prostitution
UK: Caroline Lucas Green Party Leader: Until 2016, against decriminalising pimps
USA: Green Party: Pimps/punters criminalised & prostituted supported out
Germany: Green party: Wants prostitution available ‘on prescription’
Political Systems – from the Left to the Liberals
The founding philosophies of the Left (Marx) and Liberals (John Stuart Mill) are fundamentally opposed to prostitution, yet today’s Left (socialists, anti capitalists, anarchists, Marxists) and Liberals avidly support ‘the oldest oppression’
Trafficking rises exponential after collapse in Socialism
Survivors’ open letter to the Left’s love of ‘sex work’
Anti-capitalist but not when it comes to pimps
Prostitution – where anarchists went wrong
Prostitution replacing Welfare?
Pimp lobby – same tactics as Slave Trade
Bank Rollers
George Soros: ‘Bankrolling’ the pimp lobby *
Bill & Melinda Gates:eg $1 million to Indian ‘sex worker union’ *
New Zealand State: Funds pro pimp ‘Prostitute Collective’
56 NGOS have funded £8million to pro prostitution projects. Top funders*:
-Ford Foundation: giving, on average, grants of £100,000
-American Jewish World Service: providing £1/2million per year
-Mama Cash
-Open Society Initiative
*from Julie Bindel’s ‘The Pimping of Prostitution’ Chap 7
Child ‘Sex Workers’
The sex trade lobby has done such a good job that not only does it define children who are raped by men for money as ‘sex workers’, but so do those it has lobbied.
‘Sex Worker’ Unions: Advocate for child ‘sex work’
Unicef: Uses term ‘child sex worker’
UN Advisor: Advocates for teen prostitution
Europe: ‘Sex Worker’ network (TAMPEP): States pimped teenagers are ‘sex workers’
German: Sex Worker support group (SUBWAY): States underage boys are ‘sex workers’ who ‘turn tricks’
New Zealand Prostitute Collective (NZPC): Prostituted children are ‘workers’ ‘selling a service’
New Zealand Govt: Children are ‘sex workers’, minimal penalties for their buyers
New Zealand Govt: Thinks glamourisation of prostitution does not encourage girls to enter
UK: Lib Dems: Policy until 2017 was to allow 16 years olds to make porn, still opposes any porn age restrictions
Pornogander
The sex trade lobby misrepresents the industry, stifle those who oppose it, including survivors, whilst promoting the industry’s agenda. The mass media (and social media) then acts as little more than its mouth piece. Survivors invariably testify that media normalising and glamorisation of the sex trade plays a significant role in the ‘choice’ to enter it:
Survivors on Media Glamourisation
Leeds’ Review of its Prostitution ‘Managed Zone’
More Lies & Manipulation
New York Times: Lies and misinformation
Germany TV & celebs promote ‘peado’ prostitution
Germany – numerous TV shows promote brothels
UK – TV shows promote brothels (‘A Very British Brothel’)
UK- TV promotional shows (‘A Very Yorkshire Brothel’)
What Sex as Work means
Germany: Woman sued for not giving punter orgasm
Germany: Green party wants prostitution available ‘on prescription’
Australia/Denmark: Men can access prostitution on the public health system
Towns cannot say no to a brothel in countries that legitimise prostitution
The Myth of Unionisation
Porn/Sex Trade pornogander in schools
Lib Dem suggests ‘sex work’ at school career days
Leicester University ‘promotes’ prostitution to its students
Forms of Prostitution
There might be many different forms of ‘selling sex’ but the entire industry plays by the same rule book & the harm done to those who sell and to the rest of society is the same
Indoor Prostitution
No safer than street prostitution
Webcamming
Myths & Harms of online Sex ‘Work’
Online Fans – an experiment in online grooming
‘High Class’ Escorts
It’s often stated that ‘high class’ escorts can make a fortune with little risk. Really? (don’t forget, the men who buy them will be particularly entitled ‘Harvey Weinsteins’)
‘Sugaring’
Home Office Report: Sex is almost always part of the exchange P10
‘Rooms for Sex’
UK – men take full advantage of the pandemic
More
Atlanta Spas murders highlight the racism of prostitution
Male charity workers have long used prostitution
Google bans ads for all forms of prostitution
More Resources
‘The Pimping of Prostitution’ Julie Bindel
‘Making Sex Work: A Failed Experiment’ Mary Lucille Sullivan
Consultation Responses
Pornography
Holding Pornographers to Account
Thailand bans porn as a violation of women’s rights
Nepal bans porn after 300% increase in rape
Pornhub investigated by Canadian Parliament
Credit Card companies ban payments to Pornhub
Pornhub forced to remove millions of abuse porn videos
Pornhub sued for £10millions by child rape victims
Twitter sued over child rape porn
Google reclassifying ads for pornography
What Survivors Say
Porn ‘star’ warns against the industry
Pornographers
GirlsDoPorn – $12 million settlement for coercion
GirlsDoPorn – 100 more women claim abuse
Intimidation by porn producers
Porn ‘star’ faces multiple charges
‘Feminist’ Porn?
James Deen ‘feminist’ porn ‘star’- a rapist
Feminist pornographer supports rape porn
Porn for Kids
10% 12-13 year olds addicted to porn [NSPCC]
Consultation Responses
Porn & Harassment in Public Spaces: published by Women & Equalities Committee [2018]
Porn and Sexual Violence APPG Sexual Violence [2018] WARNING:UPSETTING CONTENTS
Stop Kids Accessing Online Porn: Home Office Consultation [2016]
Body Image: Women & Equalities Committee – porn/sex trade must be considered [2020]