Close X
Sunday, November 24, 2024
ADVT 
International

British Lawmakers Call For Legalising Prostitution

Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Jul, 2016 11:44 AM
    A cross-party group of British lawmakers led by Indian-origin lawmaker Keith Vaz has called on the UK government to decriminalise sex work and prostitution, first time in decades that Parliament has considered the "polarising" subject.
     
    The House of Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee (HAC), which is chaired by longest serving Indian-origin lawmaker Keith Vaz, had conducted a review into the practice and released its interim report last week.
     
    "This is the first time that Parliament has considered the issue of prostitution in decades. It is a polarising subject with strong views on all sides," Mr Vaz said in a statement.
     
    "As a first step, there has been universal agreement that elements of the present law are unsatisfactory. Treating soliciting as a criminal offence is having an adverse effect, and it is wrong that sex workers, who are predominantly women, should be penalised and stigmatised in this way. The criminalisation of sex workers should therefore end," he said.
     
    The HAC said the UK Home Office should immediately change existing legislation so that soliciting is no longer an offence and brothel-keeping laws allow sex workers to share premises, without losing the ability to prosecute those who use brothels to control or exploit sex workers.
     
     
    The committee called for "zero tolerance" of organised criminal exploitation of sex workers and demanded legislation to delete previous convictions and cautions for prostitution from the record of sex workers, as these records make it much more difficult for people to move out of prostitution into other forms of work if they wish to.
     
    "The committee will evaluate a number of the alternative models as this inquiry continues, including the sex-buyers law as operated in Sweden, the full decriminalised model used in Denmark, and the legalised model used in Germany and the Netherlands," Mr Vaz said.
     
    The interim report released on July 1 will be followed by final recommendations based on a study of the various models.
     
    Britain has around 70,000 prostitutes who make an average of 2,000 pounds (USD 2,653 or Rs. 1.7 lakh) a week, according to the report's estimates.
     
    Sex workers in Britain charged an average of 78 pounds (USD 103 or Rs. 6,925) for services and had around 25 clients per week.
     
    Under present UK law, it is not illegal for consenting adults to buy and sell sex but soliciting it is not permitted.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Another Hindu Priest Hacked To Death In Bangladesh, India Voices Concern

    Another Hindu Priest Hacked To Death In Bangladesh, India Voices Concern
    Shyamananda Das, 50, was serving at the Sri Sri Radha Madan Gopal temple at Uttar Kastasagarha in the Jhenaidah district's Sadar Upazila for the past three years, bdnews24.com reported.

    Another Hindu Priest Hacked To Death In Bangladesh, India Voices Concern

    Texas Abortions Fell Sharply Under Law Supreme Court Voided

    Texas Abortions Fell Sharply Under Law Supreme Court Voided
    Abortions in Texas plummeted about 15 per cent during the first year after approval of tough restrictions that the U.S. Supreme Court has since struck down — a decline that activists say shows how hard it had become to get an abortion in America's second-largest state.

    Texas Abortions Fell Sharply Under Law Supreme Court Voided

    RSS Chief To Address Hindu Gathering In Britain

    RSS Chief To Address Hindu Gathering In Britain
    RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will visit Britain in July to participate in a Hindu gathering in a bid to attract British Hindu youths to Indian culture.

    RSS Chief To Address Hindu Gathering In Britain

    Two Indians Abducted In Nigeria, Confirms Government

    Two Indians Abducted In Nigeria, Confirms Government
    The government on Friday confirmed reports that two Indian nationals have been kidnapped in Nigeria and said that the Indian mission in the West African nation is closely coordinating with local agencies in the wake of the incident.

    Two Indians Abducted In Nigeria, Confirms Government

    Indian-origin Deputy Mayor Rajesh Agrawal Says Saving London Jobs His Priority

    Indian-origin Deputy Mayor Rajesh Agrawal Says Saving London Jobs His Priority
    The man appointed as Deputy Mayor for business in London says his primary responsibility will be to safeguard jobs through the Brexit fallout.

    Indian-origin Deputy Mayor Rajesh Agrawal Says Saving London Jobs His Priority

    Pakistan Asks India For More Evidence On 26/11 Mumbai Attacks

    Pakistan on Thursday demanded more evidence from India on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in order to bring the case to its "logical end", the Foreign Office spokesperson said here.

    Pakistan Asks India For More Evidence On 26/11 Mumbai Attacks