Change brothel laws to keep sex workers safe, top police officer urges government

The government must review prostitution laws to ensure sex workers can work together on the same premises to remain safe, a senior police officer has said.

Dan Vajzovic, the National Police Chief Council’s lead for prostitution and sex work, told The Independent he is working alongside government officials to reassess brothel keeping legislation.

Politicians and campaigners said this marks a “milestone moment” as well as a change in approach from the police – arguing overhauling the law could save women’s lives.

Brothel keeping laws make it illegal for more than one sex worker to operate from the same premises despite the fact this is something many in the industry do to keep safe.

The legislation dates back almost seven decades to the 1956 Sexual Offences Act which made brothel keeping a crime for the first time – with the law amended in 2003 to increase the maximum prison sentence from six months to seven years.

Mr Vajzovic, Bedfordshire Police’s temporary deputy chief constable, said present laws mean brothel keeping is an offence even if it is done to “improve their safety”.

He told The Independent: “My view on that is I don’t think that is helpful. I am working with government officials to see if we can have a review of that particular bit of the legislation.”

The former assistant chief constable said he had “asked for a review of the legislation to better enable the police to focus our resources on protecting sex workers and tackling those who are controlling or exploiting”.

Christine Jardine, a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician, told The Independent the police officer’s “intervention is welcome and a step in the right direction”.

The MP for Edinburgh West said she is calling for decriminalisation as well as a national debate in parliament on the “form this takes” as she demanded a “proper strategy” from the government on the issue.

The politician, who is the Lib Dem spokesperson for women and equalities, added: “You can’t just say we are going to decriminalise it, you have to look at how you do with that and how you protect women who will still be vulnerable.”

While it is not illegal for individuals to buy or sell sex in the UK, soliciting, working on the street, sex workers banding together as a group and prostitutes advertising themselves are illegal.

Commenting on the police officer’s remarks, Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, told The Independent: “Right now, too many sex workers work alone for fear of prosecution, increasing the risks they face.

“Changing the law on brothel keeping so that sex workers could work from the same premise would be an important step in the right direction.

“Other laws aimed at sex work – such as soliciting – should also be repealed, to improve sex workers’ rights, safety and ability to leave the sex industry if they choose. Alongside decriminalisation, the government must urgently tackle the growing levels of poverty that are pushing more women into sex work to make ends meet.”

While Niki Adams, a spokesperson for the English Collective of Prostitutes, a prominent campaign group which supports sex workers, said changing the law on brothel keeping “could be the difference between life and death for women because they would be able to work more safely together from [the same] premises”.

She added: “It is a milestone moment in that it indicates a change in direction from the police away from criminalisation. It is a welcome change in direction and an acknowledgement that criminalisation endangers women.”

The campaigner, whose organisation supports the decriminalisation of prostitution, added they regularly hear from women who report they have endured rape and other forms of violence from clients and others.

She added. “In the last couple of months, we have spoken to two women who had men come into their flat and threaten them. They pushed their way in to try and rob the women. One woman had a man threaten to throw her out the window.

“The other was held up by her neck and pinned up against the wall. Both women were horrendously shaken and traumatised. That is the kind of attack which stays with you forever.”

Women doing sex work on the street are forced to contend with the “worst violence”, Ms Adams said.

Previous research by the English Collective of Prostitutes and National Ugly Mugs, an app where sex workers can confidentially report incidents of abuse and crime, found it is 10 times more dangerous to work on the street rather than indoors.

Megan Isaac, a spokesperson for a coalition of sex worker organisations called Hookers Against Hardship, said Mr Vajzovic’s comments were “positive”, but also called for women who work on the street to stop being criminalised.

“The fact it is illegal pushes women to work in more isolated areas of the town or city and drive to an industrial estate to keep out of the police’s view and this puts their safety at risk,” she said. “We would hope this is the first step on the road to the full decriminalisation of sex work.”

The cost of living crisis is pushing more women into sex work, while those who were already doing it are facing greater danger, she added.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “As reflected in our current legislation, we are committed to protecting sex workers from harm and enabling the police to target anyone who exploits vulnerable people involved in prostitution.

“However, we must also be mindful of community concerns and the wider public good. The published National Police Chiefs’ Council guidance makes clear that the safety of those involved in sex work must be prioritised by police forces above enforcement action.”

The comments come after campaigners recently told The Independent that spiralling living costs are endangering sex workers’ safety by forcing them to accept potentially dangerous male clients whose inquiries they would have previously rejected.