THE SEXUAL FREEDOM COALITION

Sexual Freedom Coalition Proposals for Law Reform

The SFC recommends the decriminalisation of activities connected with prostitution, except underage sex, coercion and abusive behaviour, which should remain criminalised.

All existing laws relating to prostitution should be repealed and replaced by three new laws:

i) making it illegal to employ underage people for sex work

ii) dealing with the humane management of sex street work, providing designated areas and preventing people selling sex if they are addicted to drugs and/or pose a health risk

iii) specifically criminalising the abusive control of sex workers and criminalising coercion of individuals into sex work

1) The following statutes should therefore be repealed

(a) Disorderly Houses Act 1751 (25 Geo 2 c. 36) because it criminalises brothels

(b) Town Police Clause Act 1847 c.89 because it prohibits prostitutes from congregating

(c) Secs 34, 35, 36, 37 and 41 Sexual Offences Act 1956 as amended, because they restrict prostitution and its organization

(d) Street Offences Act 1959 because it criminalises street prostitution

(e) Sec 55 Sexual Offences Act 2003 because it criminalises brothels

(f) Sexual Offences Act 1985 (1985c44) because it criminalises kerb crawling. This activity would virtually disappear in residential areas if street work were limited to other designated areas

2) The following Common Laws should be abolished

(a) Conduct calculated or intended to corrupt Public Morals because it criminalises prostitutes’ advertisements

(b) Conspiracy to corrupt Public Morals because it criminalises prostitutes’ advertisements

(d) Keeping a Disorderly House because it criminalises brothels

(e) Outraging public decency because it criminalises some prostitutes

NB The Law Commission Paper No 154 recommends the abolition of all these common law offences

3) ASBOs (Anti Social Behaviour Orders) should not be used on sex workers. They are being used increasingly to control street workers and brothels because the Home Office refers to prostitution as a social problem. The Government recently announced that it is going to make ASBOs even easier to obtain. ASBOs use hearsay evidence, so they are virtually impossible to challenge in court.

The purpose of ASBS is to deal with criminal behaviour which causes nuisance. Sex workers should not be criminalized because they do not nuisance.

“Everyone has to start working somewhere,
and everywhere you go it’s a rip-off,
never nice or beautifully done.
We have to deal with horrid men.

The trade needs to be decriminalised
so that we can set up in business legitimately.

Once the laws against brothel keeping
and living off immoral earnings are repealed,
the girls can work together and develop our skills, reach out and improve on social inclusion,

Then we can begin to

offer a higher level of service
including sexual teaching,
sexual healing
and sexual rejuvenation.”

Jahnet deLight, Tantric Sex Worker, London

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

SEXUAL PLEASURES

Anal penetration of the anus with finger, penis or dildo

Aural Sex getting off on erotic sounds and words

Bi sexually interested in both genders

Cross Dressing dressing up as the opposite gender. Sometimes done for sexual arousal, and sometimes to fulfill a personal need

Ejaculation the final stage of male orgasm, when semen is shot out. Some women ejaculate on orgasm, from the urethra, and the substance is similar to that part of male ejaculate which comes from the prostate gland. Some people enjoy spraying but care should be taken not allow semen to enter another person’s body, as this can spread infections.

Exhibitionism Client may wish the sex worker to watch or else need a third party to watch him or her in action. Closed circuit TV is supplied in good brothels

Mutual Masturbation both parties masturbate beside each other

Fantasy Enactment providing the facilities to help the client live out their fantasy, which might be anything to popping balloons to crossing a high bridge over a ravine

Oral sex involving the stimulation of the genitalia with the mouth

Poppers amyl nitrate, which is inhaled to raise the heartbeat during orgasm. Now illegal and inadvisable because so many men take Viagra before visiting sex workers

SadoMasochism or S/M consensual power-play fantasy enactment for sexual arousal, using bondage and discipline, corporal punishment and/or humiliation. More recently, the preferred term is BDSM

Safer Sex sex without allowing bodily fluids to enter the other partner, either through the avoidance of penetration, or by using a conventional condom or a female condom

Scat sex involving defecation

Swallow swallowing semen

Toys use of sex toys in sex play, e.g. dildos, vibrators and floggers

Vanilla – straight sex i.e. not bondage, Sado-Masochism or fetishistic sex

Voyeurism watching a sex show - either spontaneous (as in “dogging”) or enacted as in striptease or lesbian or boy/girl acts

Water Sports sex involving urination

TYPES OF SEX WORK

Actress old fashioned pseudonym for sex worker

Amateur someone who sometimes accepts money or gifts in exchange for sex

Away Day Girls part-time sex workers who travel to a city away from home to earn extra cash anonymously, usually without telling their friends and family

Bachelor Party group of men who club together to hire some sex workers in order to enjoy a sex party

Bar Girl name given to the sex workers in Thailand and neighboring countries, who sit with customers in between their performances on stage. They can be hired by the hour, day or week. However, they sometimes have to finish their shift before being released by the Mamasan.

Call Girl high class escort who takes consignments, often abroad and sometimes spends an entire week with a client

Clipper a sex worker who takes the money from a potential client in the street and promises to meet him round the corner, but runs off with his money

Contact advertiser seeking generous gentleman female sex worker who advertises in a contact magazine posing as a horny housewife

Courtesan a court sex worker i.e. used by royalty and dignitaries

Cruising Rent Boy male who sells sex to other men he meets in the park or in the street

Dominatrix sex worker who sells domination, bondage and humiliation, which may or may not include intercourse or other sexual relief at the end of the session

Escort common term for sex worker either working independently or hired through an escort agency. She/he often does outcalls as well as incalls. The formner visits the client in latter’s home or hotel room. Usually employs a driver to take them to and fro, wait outside and be available in case the escort is attacked or otherwise endangered. The new SOA 2003. issued to the police has made escort agencies virtually legal

Fantasy Enactment sex worker who helps the client live out his or her fantasy. Usually culminates in intercourse or other sexual relief at the end of the session

Gambling Companion amateur or professional who goes gambling with the client and is then given a percentage of the latter’s winnings in return for sex

Gambling Gift sex workers paid by a casino to entertain and have sex with its high spenders after they leave the casino

Gigolo old fashioned term for man who sells sex to women

Hostess girl who works in a nightclub, and encourages clients to spend money on Champagne. She may or may not leave with the client for sex. See Clip Joint in following section

Hotel Bar Operator sex worker who sits in hotel bars and finds customers, negotiates the deal over a drink and then does the business upstairs in one of the hotel rooms (which she or he has hired)

Hotel Room Visitor sex worker who roams around the hotel corridors knocking on doors hoping for trade, or one who has been booked by a hotel guest

Hotel Escort sex worker supplied by the concierge, to the hotel guest. Usually done in return for a tip payed to the concierge, or the fee is added to the hotel bill

Lap Dancing with extras sex which takes place inside a private cublcle at a lap dancing club, or afterwards outside the club, for a fee. Lap dancers pay clubs to be allowed to dance there and solicit fees for private dancing

Market trader girls who service husbands down an alley on a Saturday while the wife does the shopping

Masseur / Masseuse sex worker who either poses as a massage expert, or who really has that expertise. In this context it is expected that he/she finishes of with a hand job, blow job or full sex

Mistress sometimes refers to a dominatrix, sometimes to a woman who is kept by her lover in return for sexual services, sometimes the girlfriend of a married man

Part Timer someone who does not rely on prostitution for a living but does it to pay off bills from time to time

Payment in Kind someone who trades sexual favours for rent, food etc.

Phone Sex Operator sex worker who supplies verbal sex over the telephone – now extended to Internet sex. They need to be skilled actors and/or actresses with quick responses and good imaginations

Red Light Window Worker woman who sits in a window in a red light district to attract customers. Once the potential client has made his selection, he steps inside to negotiate, the curtains are drawn and the sex begins

Rent Boy / Rent male who sells sex to other men

Sacred Prostitute in Phoenician temples in ancient times, women hired out their bodies in the service of religion. They dressed as the goddess, eg Astarte, whom they served. Male worshippers thought they were copulating with a manifestation of the deity. It was common practice throughout Western Asia for women who were about to be married to earn money this way and donate it to the temple or keep part of it as a dowry

Sex Club Worker performs striptease or sex acts on stage, hoping to be selected by someone in the audience. Once selected, they go to a private room to enjoy each other. Some sex workers pay to work at these establishments as they can earn a great deal during the evening. These establishments are commonplace in the Reeperbahn in Hamburg and in certain parts of southern Africa

Sex Worker name chosen by the people who do the work, replacing derogatory terms such as prostitute, tart, hooker, whore and harlot

Stag Girl girls who provide a show to a group of men and then service them with their hands and mouths. Commonly arranged for bridegroom’s night before his wedding

Street Worker sex worker who works from the street, traditionally leaning up against a lamp post but usually at a bus stop or at the traffic lights, responding to pedestrians and to kerb crawlers seeking sex. The deal is preferably struck before the sex worker gets into the car (but not where this is illegal) and the sex may take place in the car or in a nearby back alley, room or hotel. In some cities the method is reversed and the street workers drive their own cars and collect clients from the pavement. This is common in Germany where girls cruise around towns in shiny white Mercedes sports cars

Surrogate someone who works in conjunction with a sex therapist to provide the client with sexual experiences to help the therapeutic process. Often used to help phobic and inexperienced clients, and clients without partners or whose partners refuse therapy

Toy Boy a young man who is kept by his female lover

Trade male who sells sex to other men

Transformation Service Service which assists transvestities to cross dress, and may include sexual relief at the end

Travelling Hooker person who spends time in various locations selling sexual services. For example:

• following the Arab holiday circult, visiting London, Geneva and Paris

• working the truck stops and service stations

• renting a house in a remote area of the country and servicing all the locals she/he finds through an advertisement in The Sport or local free newspaper

• Visiting conferences and sports events such as the Grand Prix, Waterloo Cup or Cheltenham Cup, to help the winners spend their money and gentlemen enjoy themselves away from home, At a recent boxing tournament in a London hotel, there were more rooms upstairs booked by sex workers than by the boxing fans! The reason why there are so many good massage parlours in Birmingham is because the International Exhibition Centre demanded that the government tolerate them, or there would be no trade.

Working from Flat Alone independent sex worker working from rented premises. It is stressful and lonely to run everything alone, facing strangers at the door and intolerant neighbours, dealing with phone calls and broken appointments, handling advertising, the laundry and bills, etc. Until recently, British law allowed the employment of a maid, but the police have recently started arresting maids and prosecuting, with the excuse that they are targeting “nuisance brothels”. The maid can be convicted of “controlling a prostitute”.

Most residential leases forbid premises from being used for “immoral purposes” so sex workers hiring flats have no sense of security

Working from Flat in a Group preferred style of work for many sex workers as they share responsibilities and have each other for support. The chosen style of sex work, especially where it is legal, e.g. New Zealand and New South Wales and also where sex work is heavily criminalised, e.g. in Glasgow

Working from Home housewives sometimes use the front room for business while hubby watches the football on television in the back room and the children are hopefully asleep upstairs. Or else she uses the house for selling sex while everyone else is out at work or at school

Single sex workers avoid working from home otherwise they get no peace at night there.

PLACES WHERE SEX WORK TAKES PLACE

Bar certain bars worldwide specialise in prostitution, usually providing music for dancing. Indeed, it was the whore bars of New Orleans where jazz evolved. In the Caribbean and Central America, whore bars allow tourists and families to come inside to eat and drink and soak up the atmosphere

Brothel mansions, houses flats, shacks or boats, catering to customers who come for sex. They usually provide a choice of sex worker and clients may watch them parade in front of them to make their selection. Some brothels specialise in gay sex or Sado-Masochism. Some provide a menu of services. They are often carefully designed so that clients never meet each other on the staircase. This was not the situation in the famous Streatham brothel run by Cynthia Payne where the staircase was busy and clients were issued with luncheon vouchers to spend upstairs. Some brothels insist that the sex workers stay for periods of time, such as a fortnight without leaving, sleeping in-house and eating communally.

Many massage parlours are, in fact, brothels. Some brothels are opulent and others depressingly perfunctory. Brothels are currently illegal in the UK. Sadly some of our best-run brothels have been closed down in recent years with the owners serving custodial sentences, despite much praise being offered in mitigation by their employees in court.

Brothels can be the centre of culture. Jazz evolved in the brothels of New Orleans, and tango in the brothels of Argentina

Clip Joint dive where clients seeking to buy sex are ripped off

Dance Hall traditionally the place to find sex workers in the US until the 50s. Dance Halls of certain hotels in Dubai and other Arab countries are where guests find commercial bed partners

Dungeon apartment, house, room or basement kitted out with equipment for BDSM (Bondage, Discipline or Sado-Masochism). Equipment might include a rack, suspension device, whipping bench, testicle constrictor, whips, paddles, a kennel, TV clothing and bath. May be used by one dominatrix or a team of doms and subs

Escort Agency agency which hires out escorts for a fee. The escort may make a separate deal for supplying sex

Fantasy Parlour similar to a dungeon but catering to a wider range of fantasies, for example balloon popping and theatrical scenarios

Health Club (for men) exclusive male brothels

Hotel de Passe / Un clandé French terms for a hotel catering to clandestine sex in the afternoon between lovers and for commercial sex transactions. Some such establishments encourage the doors to be left ajar for extras such as voyeurism, exhibitionism and group sex. Sex workers are not supplied, except in exceptional circumstances. Some British motels and hotels also let rooms out by the hour for quickies, but with less panache than are found in France

Massage Parlour establishment where clients usually pay for massage at the front desk before entering a private room for pleasure. They negotiate a tip for extras with the sex worker. Although massage parlours have been licensed in certain parts of the country, e.g. around the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, most are seedy and exploitative. Only too often sex workers complain that they are not allowed to refuse clients they don’t like, and are sometimes not even allowed to use condoms

Orgy Club specially designed houses and clubs, traditionally in Switzerland and Belgium providing a bevy of females for clients to enjoy group sex with. Now becoming the latest trend in Britain, with male clients being charged around £120 for the evening’s orgy, usually taking place in the organiser’s home

Phone Lines most are pre-recorded by actors. Some are answered in person by talented sex workers. The latter may be instructed to make the caller reach orgasm as slowly as possible, so that the company reaps the highest profits

Sauna similar to massage parlour but the preferred term in the North of Britain. Usually has a Jacuzzi and sauna facilities, with cubicles off the side for sex. Saunas are licensed in Edinburgh

Sex Motel in Japan, USA, Central and South America and the Caribbean, fantasy hotels are popular, providing bedrooms with romantic and erotic décor. Some of these hotels also provide partners.

Theme Brothel brothels in Japan are often given themes so that the clients enter a fantasy world. For example, the interior of a tube train is recreated and the clients can fondle and “molest” the females traveling in the same carriage. These are very popular and themes are changed on a monthly basis.

Turkish Bath similar to Health Club

TYPES OF CLIENT

Couple – lovers who visit a sex worker together for a threesome or for one to watch the other enjoying him or herself

Kerb Crawler person who drives slowly hoping to hire a street worker. Kerb crawlers may be annoying to pedestrians but no more so than pneumatic drills, car fumes, or kerbs to those in wheelchairs or pushing prams. Criminalising kerb crawlers is completely unfair

John slightly derogatory word for a man who pays women for sex

No Show a client who books an appointment but fails to turn up

Punter – vernacular and usually affectionate word for client

Sub – client who seeks corporal punishment, humiliation bondage or a scary experience

Time Waster – someone who phones up a sex worker for a lark

Ugly Mug name for an abusive client. Outreach workers, clinics, sex worker magazine and websites publish identifying drawings and descriptions to warn other sex workers

Voyeur – client who wants to watch the sex worker put on a display and perhaps masturbate

SUPPORT / CONTROL NETWORKS

Baron controls a patch of street/s and all the sex trade therein. Is paid a fee by each sex worker on his patch and is also entitled to sex with them, i.e. a gangster

Carders people who are paid to place advertising cards (referred to in the press as tart cards) in phone boxes first thing in the morning, after they have been removed by the authorities the previous day. BT has set up TRAP – Targeted Recording and Processing to bar numbers and Westminster Council is trying to force mobile phone companies to follow suit

Contact Magazine most contact magazines issue a statement to the effect that there shall be no commercial adverts but this is difficult to enforce and most “single” females are in fact hoping for remuneration

Door-to-Door Supplier tradesman supplying condoms, lingerie, sex toys and luxury goods to sex workers who work in flats. A potential mine of information, but always discrete

Driver/Minder man (usually) who drives escorts to clients and waits outside while they do the business, using a mobile phone to touch base and ensure the sex worker is safe

Maid name used for the personal assistant who is hired by a sex worker to handle the clients as they enter and leave, and may also do housework, administration and help with the sexual pleasuring. If sexual pleasuring is not included, the hiring of the assistant is normally tolerated by the British legal system, although police have just started arresting maids for the criminal offence of controlling prostitutes

Mama San woman who controls the sex workers in the bars in Thailand (and neighboring countries) sometimes negotiating the deals and working out the percentages

Outreach Worker paid or volunteer health workers who make contact with street workers and provides them with condoms and support

Personal Adverts personal advertisements for commercial sex are illegal but recently widely tolerated in Britain. Traditionally, sex workers advertised in the newsagents’ window, in telephone boxes and columns in the free press, and certain newspapers such as the International Herald Tribune. Most such adverts are now found in The Sport and Loot

Pimp the Home Office differentiates between the Classic Pimp and the New Style Pimp. We identify the Classic Pimp as the man who controls a group or a single sex worker, sending her, or them, out to work, taking much of the money earned and providing some good sex when he feels like it, or to exercise more control. Drugs are often part of the equation. We read that the New Style Pimp includes boyfriends and people who run massage parlours and saunas. The SFC does not find this distinction at all realistic or useful.

We suggest the following distinctions:-

a) Coercive Pimp – who controls sex workers and exploits them abusively

b) Friendly Pimp – who helps the sex worker find work, insist on high prices and cares for them in a paternalistic fashion, whilst still being in command

c) Administrator personal assistant who runs the administration for a sex worker who is in command

d) Boyfriend – may or may not be coercive and abusive, may or may help his partner in her work, and may or may not live off her earnings

e) Executive Pimp social secretary who organises the hiring of sex workers for his/her boss

Trafficker person who organizes the transport, immigration papers and work place for people coming from abroad to work. Usually uses a debt contract so that the sex worker has to repay the travel and other fees before earning any money for themselves. Many of these workers hope to send money home to their impoverished families. The trafficker finds these workers by various methods and some may sold by their parents. It has been suggested that others have been kidnapped, which seems unnecessary, as there is no shortage of Eastern European and Asian women wanting to come to the West. Measures have to be taken to stop the sex workers absconding before the debt is paid, and these may include the removal of papers and freedom. See Appendix 3.

Other Words used in this Response

Dogging outdoor activity where enthusiasts perform for voyeurs. Has recently attracted a commercial element

Grundyist conventional prudery, from the question “But what will Mrs. Grundy say?” in Thomas Morton’s play Speed the Plough 1798. Still prevalent in Britain especially amongst politicians and Home Office Staff!