ABSTRACT
The changing nature of the regulation described in the previous chapter has led to fragmentation in terms of the offences that arrived on the statute book over time. This chapter will provide comprehensive coverage of prostitution-related offences. I will discuss the disparate laws that govern sex work and the sex industry – for example, what is criminalised what is not criminalised, and why. The laws have emerged from ancient planning laws and include laws originally framed to deal with the 1950s fear of homosexuality, and laws such as the criminalisation of sex workers’ cards in public space. In addition, the increased use of civil sanctions in anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) for sex work related ‘offences’, although originally applied to neighbour disputes, have severe criminal consequences for sex workers if breached. Legislation also allows the taking of DNA from kerb crawlers to add to the national DNA database. This chapter includes a description of contemporary law and policy as it relates to sex work, including the Sexual Offences Act 2003, and the Home Office White Paper A Coordinated Prostitution Strategy published in January 2006. 1
