01-19-2006, 04:14 PM
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DA Zealot
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Join Date: Aug 24 2005
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Britain Relaxes Rules for Prostitutes.
Ah the Brits are way ahead of us!  It's OK to visit a prostitute in private, just don't pick one up publically.  And the goal is to "get tougher on those buying sex". 
Quote:
LONDON, Jan. 18 -- Prostitutes will be allowed to work two to a house, aided by a receptionist, under a new government plan that critics have condemned as official endorsement of "mini-brothels."
Until now, it has been legal in Britain for one prostitute to work at a residence, but any greater number would be deemed a brothel and barred by law. In a move aimed at making work safer for prostitutes, the government has decided it is better for them to pair up and have a "maid" or receptionist.
The new policy, part of the biggest overhaul in British prostitution laws in 50 years, also comes down harder on "curb crawlers," drivers who solicit sex from streetwalkers and drive off with them. Police will be directed to aggressively confiscate their driver's licenses and "name and shame" them, passing their names to the local news media.
Mike Judge, a spokesman for the Christian Institute, a conservative religious organization, said he was outraged at the idea of mini-brothels. "This new law is basically just a gift for pimps. . . . This is definitely a liberalization of the sex laws of this country."
Niki Adams, a spokeswoman for the English Collective of Prostitutes, a group that defends prostitutes' rights, said the government's acknowledgment that it was safer for two or three women to work together was "only a small concession in exchange for a brutal clampdown on women on the street" and their customers.
"It's an absurd situation to criminalize the buying of sex and legalize the setting," Adams said.
Pointing out the window of a downtown office where she spoke, she said there were many women quietly working as prostitutes in apartments and homes all over London, bothering nobody. "Consenting sex should not be the business of the law," she said. Explaining why the government had specified that a maid could work with two prostitutes, she said that this third person is a tradition in the sex industry and in effect is the receptionist, dealing with arriving clients.
In announcing the overhaul Tuesday, Fiona Mactaggart, the Home Office minister, said that "while curb crawlers could choose not to pay for sex, women involved in prostitution often have very limited choices in life."
She also said that the government decided not to create "managed zones" for prostitution, city blocks where the sex trade would be permitted as in other European cities.
"We will not eradicate prostitution overnight, but we must not condone this exploitative industry. . . . The communities who suffer the side effects of prostitution end up with no choice over what happens on their streets -- and they are the ones who see used condoms on the streets, who live in fear of innocent women being abused or attacked and who have the stigma of living in a red-light area."
The overall aims of what the government is calling its "new strategy" on prostitution are to get tougher on those who buy sex, urge prostitutes to stop soliciting from sidewalks and redouble efforts to ensure the safety of sex workers, a large majority of whom are immigrants.
Police are to inform prostitutes of violent customers through a "Ugly Mug" program, which shows them photos of the offenders. Many prostitutes have drug and alcohol problems, and the government said it aimed to direct them into rehabilitation programs.
According to government estimates, there are about 80,000 people in Britain in the sex industry.
The provision concerning two prostitutes in a residence must be approved by Parliament. Other elements, however, are being implemented on the government's own authority.
Opposition politicians were largely quiet about the plan. Edward Garnier, the Conservative Party's shadow minister for home affairs, issued a statement saying that "government policy cannot simply focus on demand," but must "focus on the underlying social problems" behind prostitution . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...referrer=email
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