Crackdown On Britain's Sex Trade

Men who pay for sex with women who have been forced into prostitution will face criminal charges under new Government plans.

New legislation will make it an offence for a person to buy sex from a prostitute if she is "controlled for someone else's gain".

It will cover women who have pimps or drug addicts who work to pay off their dealers, as well as those trafficked for sex.

The laws are expected to cover nine out of 10 prostitutes, so will include the majority of Britain's 80,000 sex workers.

For men, not knowing a woman's circumstances will be no defence, and kerb crawlers will be "named and shamed", it is believed.

And sleeping with a prostitute known to have been trafficked could lead to rape charges.

Those who are caught could be prevented from getting jobs in sensitive occupations.

The controversial measures have been criticised by campaigners who claim it will drive prostitution underground, increasing the risk for women.

The English Collective of Prostitutes also argues it will punish women who willingly sell sex because it is more lucrative than other menial jobs.

Spokeswoman Niki Adams told Sky News Online that women should be able to come forward and report violence and exploitation, but "these proposals will make it more difficult for women to do that".

She said that the new law would cover every sex worker in Britain but she argued it is not needed because "the majority of women are not working for pimps and not trafficked".

At the moment, she said: "Men can only be done for kerb-crawling. The police need to prove that kerb-crawling has taken place several times. But prosecutions are quite high."

Ms Adams also pointed to the situation in Sweden which has criminalised men who use prostitutes since 1999.

She said: "It made the sex industry more invisible. Prostitutes were displaced into Norway and Finland. Police said it was harder to investigate trafficking and violence. The safer clients went elsewhere while the more threatening and determined punters were left."

But Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who will unveil the new measures, has defended the proposed clampdown, saying: "If it means fewer people are able to go out and pay for sex, I think that would be a good thing."

I actually think the rapes will go up now....and the pimps will do more drug deals to earn extra money....

Prositution is the oldest profession in the world and I doubt they will stop it!