Written submission from UK Feminista (MSA0046)

Executive summary

1. The UK is currently a high value, low risk destination for sex traffickers. Legislative reform is urgently needed to tackle this.

2. Without the demand created by sex buyers, there would be no trafficking of women into sexual exploitation. Demand from the minority of men who pay for sex in the UK motivates and funds organised crime groups involved in sex trafficking.

3. The Government must urgently tackle demand for sexual exploitation by making paying for sex a criminal offence in all locations. In parallel, soliciting in a public place should be decriminalised in order to support women exploited through street prostitution to seek help and exit. 

4. The Government must also prevent commercial websites enabling sex trafficking by making it a criminal offence to facilitate and profit from the prostitution of another person.

About UK Feminista

5. UK Feminista is a non-governmental organisation that supports people to take action for equality between women and men[1]. UK Feminista provides the Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade. The APPG on Prostitution is a cross-party parliamentary group that works to end commercial sexual exploitation. 

Evidence

The scale and nature of modern slavery:

6. Modern slavery involving sexual exploitation is a highly gendered form of human rights abuse. Sexual exploitation is the most common form of exploitation experienced by women and girls who are referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) as potential victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. Similarly, women and girls constitute the vast majority of victims of this type of crime. In 2017 there were 1185 referrals of potential adult victims of sexual exploitation to the NRM; 94% of these individuals were female[2].

7. An analysis of profits generated through modern slavery suggests that sex trafficking is substantially more profitable than other forms of modern slavery. Based on data from 51 countries over a 15 year period, it was found that a victim of modern slavery will generate on average $3,978 (£3,030) a year for their exploiter. However, the average profit generated by a victim of sex trafficking is $36,000 a year[3].

8. An inquiry into organised sexual exploitation conducted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade in 2018 concluded that the Government’s strategy to end sex trafficking is failing, with the UK currently a low risk, high value destination for sex traffickers[4]. The APPG found that the sexual exploitation of women in 'pop-up' brothels by organised crime groups is widespread in the UK. This is enabled by prostitution advertising websites such as Vivastreet and driven by the minority of UK men who pay for sex.

9. As of 13th April 2018 there were at least 212 active, ongoing police operations in the UK into modern slavery cases involving sexual exploitation. The APPG on Prostitution state that "figures for investigations, potential victims and prosecuted offences represent a small fraction of the true scale of organised sexual exploitation."[5]

10. It is overwhelmingly non- British- national women who are being sexually exploited in brothels in the UK. For instance, Leicestershire police visited 156 brothels, encountering 421 women, between 1st January 2016 and 31st December 2017. 86% of the women in the brothels were Romanian. Northumbria Police visited 81 brothels between March 2016 and April 2018, and of the 259 women they encountered in the brothels, 75% were from Romania. Over half of the brothels were recorded as being connected to other brothels, agencies or non- UK Organised Crime Groups.

The need to end demand for sex trafficking:

11. Sex trafficking into and around the UK takes place because of a minority of men who pay for sex. Without demand from sex buyers, there would be no 'supply' of women into sexual exploitation. It is money provided by sex buyers that motivates and funds organised crime groups engaged in sex trafficking.

12. Research consistently shows that the majority of people who pay for sex are male[6]. A study of 6000 men by University College London found that 3.6% of men had paid for sex in the past five years[7]. Men who were more likely to have paid for sex were young professionals with high numbers of (unpaid) sexual partners. An international study of men who pay for sex, led by the Immigrant Council of Ireland, concluded: “irrespective of a buyers’ knowledge of human trafficking as a crime and as a phenomenon, it is unlikely that they will consider the possibility that a seller may be a victim of trafficking when purchasing sex.”[8] Similarly, Detective Constable Julie Currie of the Modern Slavery and Kidnap Unit at the Metropolitan Police Service told the APPG on Prostitution, "In the vast majority of cases males paying for sex will give no thought to where the woman has come from or what circumstances have lead her into prostitution."[9]

13. In order to tackle demand for sex trafficking, it is necessary to tackle demand to pay for sex. As a 2016 European Commission report on the gender dimension of human trafficking highlights, "trafficked persons are located within existing sex industries... there is no separate or specific market for trafficked persons"[10].

14. The UK has multiple international obligations to tackle the demand that drives sex trafficking. Article 9.5 of the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children (the Palermo Protocol) stipulates: "State Parties shall adopt or strengthen legislative or other measures ... to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, that leads to trafficking." The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)[11] requires signatories to “take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women”[12]. Article 6 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings requires member states to “discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, that leads to trafficking”[13].

15. Demand from sex buyers is context-dependent, varying over time and place[14]. A critical factor in prevalence rates is the legality of paying for sex. Researchers at London Metropolitan University concluded from research on sex buyers that “legality contributes to normalisation, which in turn increases the likelihood of paying for sex”[15]. A survey published in 2018 asked over 1200 sex buyers the following question: ‘Would you change your behaviour if a law was introduced that made it a crime to pay for sex?’ Over half of the respondents said they would "definitely", "probably" or "possibly" change their behaviour[16].

16. An analysis of up to 150 countries found that trafficking flows are larger in to countries where prostitution is legal[17]. Similarly, a study of European countries found that sex trafficking was most prevalent in nations with legalised prostitution regimes. The researchers suggested: "slacker prostitution laws make it more profitable to traffic persons to a country."[18]

17. The Government is currently failing in its obligation to combat demand from sex buyers. As a result, the UK is a highly lucrative destination for sex traffickers. While 'paying for sexual services of a prostitute subjected to force etc' is a crime under Section 53a of the Sexual Offences Act, just one person was prosecuted for this offence in 2017[19]. This limited offence is not being enforced, and it is wholly inadequate as a measure to reduce demand to pay for sex.

Recommendations:

18. Recommendation 1: The Government should tackle the demand that drives sex trafficking by making it a criminal offence to pay for sex in all locations. In parallel, it should decriminalise soliciting in a public place to enable women subjected to street-based sexual exploitation to seek help and exit.

19. This 'end demand' legal framework, which criminalises paying for sex but decriminalises the person who is exploited, is often referred to as the Nordic model or Sex Buyer Law. It has been adopted by Ireland, Northern Ireland, France, Sweden, Iceland and Norway. 

20. There is extensive evidence that 'end demand' legal frameworks reduce the demand that drives sex trafficking. Sweden was the first country to adopt this approach in 1999, and surveys conducted in 1996 and 2008 found that the proportion of men who reported paying for sex reduced from 13% to 8%[20]. The most recent research on prevalence rates found that 0.8% of men in Sweden had paid for sex in the previous 12 months - the smallest proportion recorded in two decades and the lowest level in Europe[21]. An official review of Sweden's prostitution legislation noted, "According to the National Criminal Police, it is clear that the ban on the purchase of sexual services acts as a barrier to human traffickers and procurers considering establishing themselves in Sweden."[22]

21. A review commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security of Norway’s 'end demand' legislation, which was adopted in 2009, concluded: “A reduced market and increased law enforcement posit larger risks for human traffickers…The law has thus affected important pull factors and reduced the extent of human trafficking in Norway in comparison to a situation without a law.”[23] In recognition of its effectiveness, the Council of Europe has recommended that states adopt the Sex Buyer Law “as the most effective tool for preventing and combating trafficking in human beings”.[24]

22. Success in tackling modern slavery involving sexual exploitation would look like a reduction in the proportion of men who pay for sex. As such, the priorities for the new Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner must include reducing demand for sexual exploitation. Benchmarks for measuring progress include: the introduction of the Sex Buyer Law; the delivery of training on effective implementation of the Sex Buyer Law to all police forces and subsequent prosecution rates of offenders; and an ongoing reduction in the number of men paying for sex, as reported through anonymised surveys.   

23. Recommendation 2: The Government should prevent prostitution procurement websites from enabling sex trafficking by making it a criminal offence to facilitate and/or profit from the prostitution of another person.

24. Prostitution procurement websites are commonly used by organised crime groups involved in sex trafficking to advertise victims to sex buyers[25]. These commercial websites have been described by the Joint Slavery and Trafficking Analysis Centre as “the most significant enabler of sexual exploitation in the UK”[26]. Under current legislation, it is illegal to place prostitution adverts in phone boxes, yet commercial websites are able to openly and knowingly host and profit from prostitution adverts.

25. Success in tackling modern slavery involving sexual exploitation would look like a reduction in the online advertising of victims to sex buyers and an end to the operations of commercial prostitution procurement websites. Benchmarks for measuring progress include: the introduction of legislation which makes it a criminal offence to enable and profit from the prostitution of another person, and prostitution procurement websites including Adultwork and Vivastreet ceasing online prostitution advertising in the UK.

September 2018