Fresh ESRC Research shows the 2009 UK government policy plans on prostitution were ill-conceived and based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the activity. What follows is an edited version of the Summary which demonstrates that de-criminalisation is the right policy option for the women themselves and for society at large. Prohibitionist restrictions will be counter-productive and the newly evolving “left-wing feminist” approach, as championed by people such as Harriet Harman is just plain wrong!
Executive Summary
Interviews with 100 migrant women, men and transgender people working 
in all of the main jobs available within the sex industry and from the most relevant areas of origin (South America, Eastern Europe, EU and South East Asia) indicate that …. Only a minority, amounting approximately to 6 per cent of female interviewees, felt that they had been deceived and forced into selling sex in circumstances within which they had no share of control or consent.
…. Most migrants did not work in the sex industry before coming to the UK and decided to do so after a long string of work experiences in other sectors, which were seen as comparatively less rewarding both in terms of remuneration and of the working conditions offered. The majority of interviewees were introduced to the possibility of working in the sex industry through friends and colleagues they met in other settings and decided to take up the opportunity after they saw positive examples in their everyday lives, both when they were home and in the country of origin.
The stigma associated with sex work was the main problem for almost all interviewees, who felt that it had negative implications for their private and professional lives. Most interviewees complained that they found it difficult to reconcile working in the sex industry and having stable romantic relationships and that having to lead a double life with their partners, families and friends impacted negatively on their wellbeing. A majority of interviewees also underlined the way the stigma associated with sex work was implicated in legitimating violence against sex workers from a small minority of clients and from petty criminals.
Almost all interviewees felt that the most advantageous aspects of their involvement in the sex industry were the possibility of earning considerably more money than in other sectors, the availability of time and the possibility of meeting interesting people, travelling and experiencing new and challenging situations. In most cases by working in the sex industry migrants were able to bridge an important gap in their aspirations to social mobility and felt that they were able to enjoy better living and working conditions.
Most interviewees underlined that they enjoyed respectful and friendly relations with colleagues and clients and that by working in the sex industry they had better working and living conditions than those they encountered in other sectors of employment (mainly in the hospitality and care sectors). The research shows that most interviewees consciously decided to work in the sex industry and that only a minority felt that they had been forced to. ….
Key findings:
• the large majority of interviewed migrant workers in the UK sex industry are not forced nor trafficked,
• immigration status is by far the most important factor restricting their ability to exercise their rights in their professional and private lives,
• working in the sex industry is often a way for migrants to avoid the unrewarding and sometimes exploitative conditions they meet in non-sexual jobs.
• by working in the sex industry, many interviewees are able to maintain dignified living standards in the UK while dramatically improving the living conditions of their families in the country of origin,
• the stigmatisation of sex work is the main problem interviewees experienced while working in the sex industry and this impacted negatively on both their private and professional lives,
• the combination of the stigmatisation of sex work and lack of legal immigration documentation makes interviewees more vulnerable to violence and crime,
• interviewees generally describe relations with their employers and clients as characterised by mutual consent and respect, although some reported problematic clients and employers, who were disrespectful, aggressive or abusive,
• the impossibility of guaranteeing indefinite leave to remain to victims of trafficking undermines the efforts of the police and other authorities against criminal organisations,
• most interviewees feel that the criminalisation of clients will not stop the sex industry and that it would be pushed underground, making it more difficult for migrants working in the UK sex industry to assert their rights in relation to both clients and employers,
• All interviewees thought that decriminalising sex work and the people involved and making it easier for all migrants to become and remain documented would improve their living and working conditions and enable them to exercise their rights more fully ….
Key Policy Implications
The project findings show that the measures regarding prostitution and trafficking foreseen by the Policing and Crime Bill 2009 will be seen and experienced by migrant workers as criminalizing their livelihoods. …
The research evidence strongly suggests that current attempts to curb trafficking and exploitation by criminalising clients and closing down commercial sex establishments will not be effective because as a result the sex industry will be pushed further underground and people working in it will be further marginalised and vulnerable to exploitation. This would discourage both migrants and UK citizens working in the sex industry, as well as clients, from co-operating with the police and sex work support projects in the fight against actual cases of trafficking and exploitation. The interviews informing this research support the view that the success of initiatives against sexual exploitation and the general wellbeing of migrants working in the UK sex industry could be greatly enhanced by provisions that would:
• make it easier for migrants to become and remain documented and allow the sex industry to operate legally by decriminalising it, including the possibility of legally recruiting sex workers both in the national and in the global labour markets,
• decriminalise peer-based forms of work organisations, in which a small numbers of sex workers share a working space on an equal basis, along the lines of the ‘mini-brothel’ solution,
• guarantee victims of sexual exploitation the certainty of obtaining undetermined leave to remain in the UK, regardless of whether they are prepared to denounce their exploiters and to co-operate with criminal investigations,
• provide migrants who were exploited with adequate long-term support and protection to successfully integrate within the UK society or, if they so wish, in their countries of origin. This means: not imposing the condition that migrants give up working in the sex industry in order to receive assistance and also providing recreational as well as educational opportunities to migrants assisted by integration programmes. ….
About the project
The research team was led by Dr Nick Mai from the Institute for the Study of European Transformations, London Metropolitan University. London was chosen as the main site of the research (selected interviews were undertaken outside of London) because of the scale and diversity of its sex industry and of its migrant population, which offered a great potential to illustrate a variety of links between migration and the sex industry.
The research draws on 100 (67 women, 24 men, 9 transgender) in-depth semi-structured interviews with migrants working in all sectors of the sex industry and from the main areas of origin involved (South America, Eastern Europe, EU and South East Asia). The project adopted a participative ethical approach. The research team included people working in the sex industry and members of organisations representing sex workers. A monetary acknowledgement of subjects’ participation in the research was given. “
From the Author of “Unzipped” - proof that power really is the Ultimate Aphrodisiac from the House of Commons to the Party Conference, and back. Scandalous sexual secrets from the corridors of power.
Filed under: Culture, Regulation, Sexuality
