As we expected, only a few hours of parliamentary time were devoted to discussing the sections on sex work in the Policing and Crime Bill. As we expected, the Bill passed as agreed by the government, including criminalising only clients of those “subjected to force”, not “controlled for gain”. As expected, there has been outcry from organisations and journalists whose aim is to eradicate all prostitution that this change “weakens the law and makes women less safe” – as if targeting violence and coercion rather than consensual sex work makes us less safe.
We asked people to lobby their MPs for three reasons.
We knew it would not affect the content of the Bill at this stage but it does raise the profile of this issue with MPs – one of the main problems we have is that almost all information on the sex industry is from health projects and the criminal justice system, so many of us are, effectively, invisible (not that the government is paying much attention to the evidence at present).
It also helps counteract the organisations that hold the extreme view that all prostitution is violence against women, which have been very successful in getting media coverage over the past few days: the more MPs who hear from people who know the reality, good and bad, of working in the sex industry and can describe the harmful consequences of criminalisation, the closer we get to a real debate about how to improve things.
Thirdly, the more lobbying we’ve done at this stage, the more we have to build on when the Bill goes through the Lords.
So what happens next?
Parliament is in recess from Thursday 21 May to Monday 1 June, and then sits for about 7 weeks till Tuesday 21 July. Then, there’s a break till October.
The Bill will probably go through the Lords in June/July. We’ve heard that the first reading in the Lords (a purely administrative procedure) may be scheduled for 4th June, but this may change.
On June 4, there are European elections; there’ve also been rumours of a cabinet shuffle or changes at the Home Office that might take place in June – these things could make a big difference.
In the House of Lords, debate will take place at the second reading, followed by the Committee stage which looks at the Bill in detail (in the House of Lords this is usually everybody, as opposed to the small groups used for Committees in the Commons). Then third reading, and then the Bill goes back to the Commons to become law.
The IUSW will begin contacting people in the House of Lords over the next week or so. We’re also going to try to set up more meetings with Home Office ministers, but will probably wait until mid-June for this, depending on the parliamentary timetable.
We may also make suggestions for lobbying candidates in the European elections.
You can read the whole debate at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090519/debtext/90519-0005.htmYou can track the Bill online at
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2008-09/policingandcrime.htmlClick on <Show> to see full details of each section.
If you have any questions, suggestions or want to take part, please contact Catherine at the IUSW
catherine@iusw.org07868 492276
