1. UKNSWP Annual Conference 6th October 2006 Britannia Hotel, Manchester
What we know about men who buy sex. Dr Teela Sanders University of Leeds
UKNSWP Annual Conference
6th October 2006
Britannia Hotel, Manchester

2. Aims of the presentation
Brief over-view of the literature on men who buy sex from female sex workers
Evaluation of rehabilitation programmes
Why the re-focus on ‘kerbcrawlers’ in policy?
The impact of criminalisation?

3. Prevalence of Men buying sex
National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles
1990 – 2000 from 2% to 4.2% (Johnson et al 2001)
8.9% in Greater London
Ward et al (2005) survey of 6,000 men in 1990 & 2000 in UK.
1990, 5.6 % had purchased sex
2000, increased to 8.8%
10% (n=267) of population in sexual health clinic survey in Glasgow had purchased sex (Groom and Nandwani, 2006)
All statistics are under-representation
Ward et al (2005:468) compared results from survey of men aged between in 1990 (n=6000) and again in 2000 (n=4672). Amongst others on sexual lifestyles questions asked about paying for sex with a woman, the last time this happened, and the number of different women paid for sex. They show that there had been a significant increase in the prevalence of buying sex over the decade with 8.8% of men in 2000 admitting to buying sex in their lifetime, compared to 5.6% in 1990.
Rissel, C.E., Richters, J., Grulich AE., et al Sex in Australia: Experiences of Commercial Sex in a Representative Sample of Adults Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 27:191-7

4. Global view of prevalence
Sweden: 13% (Ekberg, 2004)
Australia: 15.6% (Rissel et al, 2003)
Spain: 39% (Leridon, et al 1998)
Thailand: 73% (Anderson & O’Connell Davidson, 2003)

5. Why the increase? Increase in divorce / decline in marriage
Growth in adult entertainment industry
Availability & visibility
Growth of Internet and global communications
Increase in travel
Increase in amount of adult time spent alone
Increased cultural acceptance / less stigma
Change in sexual morality attitudes?
Scott (1998) still high condemnation for extra-marital affairs

6. Who are the men that buy sex?
Across socio-economic groups
Professional, managerial and manual jobs
Full time employment
Marital status: majority in long term partnerships (Gibbens & Silberman, 1960, Groom & Nandwani, 2006)
No criminal record (Hester & Westmorland, 2004)
Age – clients more likely to be over 39 years (Sullivan & Simon, 1998)
Facts correspond with large scale surveys from USA (Monto, 2000).

7. Motivations for buying sex
Attraction of the illicit encounter (McKeganey & Barnard, 1996)
No sexual activity / isolation / loneliness (Campbell, 1998)
Different sex acts from regular partners
Different women
Uncomplicated / non-emotional
Convenience / simplicity
Regulars – repeat customers
Companionship, socialising, time (Lever & Dolnick, 2000)

8. Different markets = different clients
Differences between men who go to different markets
Different motivations / type of service
Men rarely go to both street and indoor markets (Benson & Matthews, 1995; Groom & Nandwani, 2006)
Perceived risks of street (drugs/violence/danger) (Sanders, 2007)
Expansive range of markets
Perceptions of lap dancing /Amsterdam / stag night very different from street
UK men buying sex abroad (Netherlands, Thailand, Spain, Germany)

9. Re-framing who is the ‘problem’
1980’s + men who buy sex problematised
Small number of communities dominate parliamentary debates (Kantola &Squires, 2004)
Increase in laws against ‘the kerbcrawler’
1985 Sexual Offences Act - shift in who was the problem
2001 Criminal Justice & Police Act - kerbcrawling an arrestable offence
2003 Criminal Justice Act - conditional cautioning
Peak between : 993 men arrested (2002)

10. Coordinated Prostitution Strategy: Tackling Demand
Enforcement of existing laws for kerbcrawling
Addressing concerns from communities
Informal warning / court diversion / prosecution
Crackdowns, zero tolerance decoys, supporting naming and shaming, media coverage, driving licenses revoked, fines, rehabilitation programmes

11. Rehabilitation programmes: A coherent approach?
Court diversion schemes
Success of UK programmes based on low re-offending rates
Strategy ignored evaluations / evidence
No evidence that programmes in North America have lasted more than 2 years
Range of reasons for ineffectiveness
Nature of the programmes:
The Paying the Price document states that ‘re-education programmes have proved effective’ backing up this claim with the statement ‘police forces offering re-education programmes report that few who attend have been know to re-offend’ (pp 68).

12. Evaluation of Effectiveness
Re-offending cannot be used as an effectiveness measuring tool (Monto & Garcia, 2000)
Recidivism not due to programme – other factors lead to behavioural change
Some evidence of attitude changes but not behaviour (Wortley, et al 2002; Kennedy et al, 2004)
Resource intensive – Clubs & Vice: 12 crackdowns a year yields arrests each time. 20 officers needed for each week long crackdown.

13. Criticisms of the programmes
Bias programme content – 1995 radical feminist campaign in San Francisco (Campbell & Storr, 1998)
Not balanced view of law or prostitution (Van Brunschot, 2003)
Against legal theory & due process (Brooks Gordon, 2006)
Damage of shaming schools – confrontational shaming ritual (Sawyer et al, 1998)
Need for wider educational awareness programme with all men

14. Impact of tackling demand?
Still legal to buy sex: confusion
Mixed messages: condoning or enabling commercial sex?
No awareness of impact of crackdowns / zero tolerance on sex workers or industry
Temporal, spatial and tactical displacement
Impact of naming & shaming on families

15. Will the Strategy reduce demand?
So…….?
Will the Strategy reduce demand?
Up against multi-million £ and $ industry and an embedded commodification culture

16. Anderson, B and O’Connell Davidson, J (2003) Is trafficking in human beings demand driven? A multi-country pilot study. International Organisation for Migration,
Benson, C., & Matthews, R. (1995). Street Prostitution: Ten Facts in Search of a Policy. International Journal of the Sociology of Law, 23,
Brooks-Gordon, B. (2005). Clients and Commercial Sex: Reflections on Paying the Price: A Consultation Paper on Prostitution. Criminal Law Review,
— (2006). The Price of Sex: Prostitution, Policy and Society: Willan Publishing.
Campbell, R. (1998). Invisible Men: Making Visible Male Clients of Female Prostitutes in Merseyside. In J. Elias, V. Bullough, V. Elias & G. Brewer (Eds.), Prostitution. On Whores, Hustlers and Johns (pp ). New York: Prometheus Books

17. Campbell, R., & Storr, M. (2001). Challenging the Kerb Crawler Rehabilitation Programme. Feminist Review, 67,
Ekberg, G. (2004). The Swedish Law that Prohibits the Purchase of Sexual Services: Best Practices for Prevention of Prostitution and Trafficking in Human Beings. Violence Against Women, 10,
Fischer, H., Webster, C., & Wortley, S. (2002). Vice lessons: A survey of prostitution offenders enrolled in the Toronto John School Diversion Program. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 44,
Gibbens, T., & Silberman, M. (1970). The Clients of Prostitutes. The British Journal of Venereal Diseases, 36,
Groom, TM and Nandwani, R (2006) Characteristics of men who pay for sex: A UK sexual health clinic survey, Sexually Transmitted Infections, 82, 5, pp
Hester, M., & Westmarland, N. (2004). Tackling Street Prostitution: Towards a Holistic Approach. London: Home Office.
Johnson, AM., Mercer, CH, Erens, B etal (2001) Sexual Behaviour in Britain: partnerships, practices and HIV risk behaviours. Lancet, 358, pp

18. Kantola, J., & Squires, J. (2004). Discourses Surrounding Prostitution Policies in the UK. European Journal of Women's Studies, 11,
Kennedy, M. A., Klein, C., Gorzalka, B. B., & Yuille, J. C. (2004). Attitude Change Following a Diversion Program for Men Who Solicit Sex. Journal of Offender rehabilitation, 40,
Leridon, H van Zessen, G., Hubert,m (1998) The Europeans and their Sexual Partners in Hubert, M, Bajos, N and Sandfort, T (eds) Sexual behaviour and HIV/AIDS in Europe, London UCL Press
Lever, J., & Dolnick, D. (2000). Clients and Call Girls: Seeking Sex and Intimacy. In R. Weitzer (Ed.), Sex for Sale (pp ). London: Routledge.
McKeganey, N., & Barnard, M. (1996). Sex Work on the Streets. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Monto, M. (2000). Why Men Seek Out Prostitutes. In R. Weitzer (Ed.), Sex for Sale (pp ). Routledge: London.
Monto, M. A., & Garcia, S. (2001). Recidivism Among the Customers of Female Street Prostitutes: Do Intervention Programs Help? Western Criminology Review, 3.
Rissel, C.E., Richters, J., Grulich AE., et al Sex in Australia: Experiences of Commercial Sex in a Representative Sample of Adults Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 27:191-7

19. Sanders, T (2007) Paying for Pleasure: Men who Buy Sex Cullompton, Willan
Sawyer, S., Rosser, B. R. S., & Schroeder, A. (1998). A Brief Psychoeducational Program for Men Who Patronize Prostitutes. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 26,
Scott, J (1998) Changing Attitudes to Sexual Morality: A Cross-National Comparison, Sociology, 32, 4 pp
Sullivan, E., & Simon, W. (1998). The Client: A Social, Psychological and Behavioural Look at the Unseen Patron of Prostitution. In J. E. Elias, V. L. Bullough, V. Elias & G. Brewer (Eds.), Prostitution: On Whores, Hustlers and Johns (pp ). Amsherst, NY: Prometheus.
Van Brunschot, E. G. (2003). Community Policing and "John Schools". Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthroplogy, 40,
Ward, H., Mercer, CH., Wellings K et al (2005) Who pays for sex? An analysis of the increasing prevalence of female commercial sex contacts among men in Britain. Sexually Transmitted Infections, 81:467-71