1. 1 Dr Teela Sanders School of Sociology & Social Policy University of Leeds t.l.m.sanders@leeds.ac.uk Men Who Buy Sex: Criminals, Abusers of Scapegoats? British Society of Criminology Conference, Glasgow, 5th-7th July 2006

2. 2 Aims of the paper To review the changes in the laws relating to men who buy sex in UK, using comparisons from other countries Explore the understanding of men who buy sex presented by the Home Office Looks at the consequences of criminalisation policy Examine evidence that looks at the place of prostitution in society

3. 3 Strengthening the law, reframing the ‘problem’ Clients originally ignored in legislation by Wolfenden 1957. Purchasing sex considered legitimate. 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

4. 4 Home Office Review: Paying the Price 2004 Prostitution as a social problem because of it’s effects and not a case of morality (Phoenix & Oerton, 2005). ‘the user’ - marginalises and stereotypes ‘going to a prostitute can mean supporting the illegal drugs industry’ (Home Office, 2004:12). ‘The user’ = 30 year old male, married, full time employment, NO criminal record

5. 5 Coordinated Prostitution Strategy 2006 Tackling Demand: Enforcement of existing laws for kerbcrawling Concerns from communities Crackdowns, zero tolerance decoys, supporting naming and shaming, media coverage, driving licenses revoked, fines, rehabilitation programmes

6. 6 But…... It is STILL legal to sell and buy sex and there has been no move by the government in the past 100 years to change this basic entitlement. So……..what are the issues and why have men been increasingly criminalised and demonised?

7. 7 Consequences of criminalisation No hard evidence that rehabilitation programmes work. No evaluation. Uncritically accepted when heavily criticised Treated as sexual offenders when no evidence of harm or wrong doing Temporal, spatial and tactical displacement No awareness of impact of crackdowns / zero tolerance on sex workers or industry

8. 8 Men as Abusers…contradictions between rhetoric and law Coercion / under 16 clear case where there are laws to deal with this Official concepts - buying sex is wrong on the street. Why no make illegal? Indoors tolerated / attempts to decriminalise Men on street considered sexual predators Ignores the context of an adult consensual relationship - compliance, not always violent, without incident

9. 9 Men as Scapegoats Naming and Shaming - implications for families / households Hypocrisy of sexualised culture - sex economy legitimated Mixed messages about what is acceptable, confusion amongst men about what they can do legally Hyper-masculinity criminalised Majority of men are compliant and non- violent

10. 10 Evidence & Reality ignored No systematic review - Evidence not taken into account Sexual scripts that men adopt Etiquette and rules Functions of sexual services Profound misunderstanding of human sexuality, men’s relationships and motivations

11. 11 Implications for sex workers Social implications - ever more dangerous environment and more policing Cultural implications - sex workers not tolerated, not worthy of protection, hate crime, victimisation No change in communities - demand not cease Social causes of prostitution not addressed…..reactive not preventative