Written evidence submission from Daniel Harvey

I’m a male sex worker in my mid 30’s, who has been working predominantly indoors for the last four years. I entered the sex industry as a result of an insecure work situation - later leading to a zero hour contract, discrimination at work, debt and to financially support my partner who repeatedly had her benefit claims refused. I don’t enjoy my job but unless all of the above can be resolved and other barriers are removed - enabling me to find secure work with a decent wage, sex work is a preferable alternative to debt, poverty, low wages and work discrimination. I wish to comment particularly on the bias of your inquiry and conflation of sex work with violence.

1. Whether criminal sanction in relation to prostitution should continue to fall more heavily on those who sell sex, rather than those who buy it.

This question is deeply bias in it’s leading formulation. It’s extremely concerning to me that criminalisation is back on the table yet again. Criminalisation makes us more vulnerable to rape and other forms of violence, increases our social marginalisation, prevents us from accessing protection and justice and increases barriers to accessing health and social services. Like many others, I currently work in isolation to avoid detection, concerned with the consequences of being exposed as a sex worker. I never disclose my status when accessing services (if I access them at all) and I’ve never reported any of the crimes committed against me whilst working. Many of my friends in the industry, predominantly women have experienced high levels of rape and other violence - none of which they’ve reported to the police through fear of arrest or deportation and / or not being believed or treated with respect.

You only have to look at the spectacular failure of Sweden who introduced the Swedish Sex Purchase Ban (Sexköpslagen) in 1999 and other countries with similar legislative ‘end demand’ frameworks to know that criminalisation of clients completely undermines sex workers safety, pushing sex workers further underground, making us more vulnerable to violence. It does nothing to reduce the sale of sex. It’s disgraceful and irresponsible to consider any strategy that makes it even more difficult to survive in the face of rising poverty, austerity, low wages and benefit cuts and sanctions - all of which are forcing more people, particularly women into prostitution. Criminalising clients will not stop prostitution, nor will it stop the criminalisation of women. But it will make more it more dangerous and stigmatising for those of us who work as prostitutes

Why aren’t you looking at decriminalisation? An increasing number of organizations including Amnesty International, have highlighted that laws that prohibit consenting adults to buy and sell sex negatively impact sex workers safety and wellbeing, restricting access to health and social services. In contrast the decriminalisation of sex work promotes health and human rights for sex workers.- reducing violence and abuse, increasing access to police protection and justice, safe working conditions and health services.

New Zealand successfully decriminalised prostitution in 2003, with verifiable improvements in sex workers health, safety and human rights. Why is this being ignored in this inquiry?

2. What the implications are for prostitution-related offences of the Crown Prosecution Service's recognition of prostitution as violence against women.

To conflate prostitution with violence against women is insulting to sex workers and implies that women don’t know the difference between consenting sex and rape, denying women the right to agency, autonomy and to define their own experiences. This creates huge barriers to women accessing help and support services. Furthermore, a lack of distinction between consent and violence results in many women facing arrest and brothel-keeping charges for working together for safety when there is no abuse or coercion involved.

3. Whether further measures are necessary, including legal reforms, to:

Assist those involved in prostitution to exit from it

Increase the extent to which exploiters are held to account

Discourage demand which drives commercial sexual exploitation

Another extremely leading and bias question! Attempts to eradicate the sex industry through criminalisation only harms sex workers. The notion that men’s sexual demands are what keeps the sex industry alive conceal the truth that’ it’s poverty and lack of options and difficult circumstances that propels many of us to sell sex. 

Who are the exploiters? Why are we any less exploited in other forms of labour? False claims about trafficking are often used to justify crackdowns on prostitution and to target immigrant sex workers for raids and deportations while most victims get no protection. Women are being arrested and charged with brothel-keeping for working together for safety when there is no form of coercion involved and countless women are being targeted on the street for prostitution offences - ending up with criminal records that prevent them from leaving sex work.

It’s outrageous that current laws and proposed changes are criminalising us and our partners, friends and colleagues for trying to survive and support ourselves and our families. Outlaw poverty, not prostitutes.