Prostitution: Women,Clients and the Law

McLeod E. , (1982) Women Working: Prostitution Now, Croom Helm. p. 9.

McLeod ., ibid p. 12.

Force A data are from Trigg P. , (1980) Prostitution, an unpublished project submitted for the BA(Hons) Law Degree at Leicester Polytechnic Law School.

For a fu/ller discussion see Frey J. H. Reichert L. R. Russell K. V. , (1981) “Prostitution, Business and Police: The Maintenance of an Illegal Economy,” Police Journal, Vol. LIV. No. 3 p. 240.

McLeod , op. cit., p. 27.

Winick C. Kinsie P. M. , The Lively Commerce, Signet 1971, p. 40.

Knowledge and information about police activity is not always readily available for all police forces. The Times (March 29, 1983) described Metropolitan Police initiatives:

“A new police drive against vice in the King's Cross area of central London has led to 1,000 charges in 10 weeks. Most of the charges have led to convictions. Chief Insp. William Nelson, head of the unit involved, said yesterday that most of the charges were for loitering for prostitution, and that prostitution was being discouraged by a ‘consistent uniformed police presence’. Plain-clothes officers were also being deployed against pimps and brothels”.

Mr. C. J. Anderton, Chief Constable, Greater Manchester Police, in a personal letter (October 6, 1983) wrote:

“Any increase in convictions for prostitution related offences/loitering in Greater Manchester is not due to increased police action as there has been no special deployment of police resources in this area. From January 31, 1983, the Criminal Justice Act 1982 removed the option of imprisonment for offences of soliciting. This has coincided with a very marked increase in the numbers of persons appearing before the courts in Greater Manchester for loitering for prostitution. For example, in the six month period from July to December, 1982, a total of 170 persons appeared before the courts in Greater Manchester charged with offences relating to prostitution, an average of 28 per month. In the period from January to August, 1983, 512 such persons appeared, an average of 64 per month, representing an increase of 129%.

“The inquiry into the murders committed by Peter Sutcliffe resulted in very intensive police activity in those areas frequented by prostitutes, with a view to preventing and detecting attacks on women. It is possible that this may have had the effect of curtailing the activities of some prostitutes and of deterring their prospective clients. It also seems likely that the publicity given to the attacks deterred some prostitutes from soliciting on the street, or caused them to move to other police areas. There was no change in enforcement policy in Greater Manchester for offences relating to prostitution during that period”.

See Acton W. , (1972) Prostitution Considered in its Moral, Social and Sanitary Aspects , Cass, reprint of second edition; Finnegan F. , (1979) Poverty and Prostitution , Cambridge University Press; Harrison F. , (1979) The Dark Angel, Fontana.

McLeod , ibid., p. 26.

Hall J. , (1952) Theft, Law and Society, Bobbs-Merrill.

See Bailey P. , (1982) An English Madam, Jonathan Cape, for examples of the wide variety of proclivities catered for.

The Inland Revenue and the Department of Health and Social Security also maintain files. Local and national newspapers are monitored for details of convictions of individuals who are trading, legally or illegally, and making a profit. See Russell K. , (1982) “When the Wages of Sin are Taxed,” Sunday Telegraph, November 28, 1982.

Trigg P. , (1980) op. cit., p. 42.

Trigg , ibid, p. 43.

Survey details from: Winick C. Kinsie P. M. , (1971), Stein M. L. , (1974), Jennings M. A. , (1976), McLeod E. , (1981). A survey (Russell 1983) by the senior author.

Potential clients in the Hyson-Green area of Nottingham were arrested, charged and “bound over to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for 12 months in the sum of £100.” (Birmingham Post, October 18, 1983). The Nottingham vice-squad used two plainclothes policewomen to catch 13 men. The Justice of the Peace Act 1361, was used to achieve a conviction.

Home Office (1982), Working Paper on Offences Relating to Prostitution and Allied Offences, HMSO, p. 31.

Ibid.

Home Office (1976) Report of the Working Party on Vagrancy and Street Offences, HMSO, p. 68.

Home Office (1959) Street Offences Act.

Home Office (1982) op. cit., p. 31.

Problems which involve the exercise of discretion, not only involve police officers but also magistrates. In some courts, at least, the magistrates may know that a woman without previous convictions for prostitution related offences, who appears before them on an unrelated charge (such as theft), is a prostitute. This would occur if the fact of her prostitution was included in an antecedent history handed to the magistrates, or in a social inquiry report. If the defendant does have previous convictions for prostitution, this would, of course, appear in the list handed to the magistrates by the prosecution who would ask whether the court wished convictions of a nature not similar to the offence charged, to be read out. Usually, the bench says, it only wishes to hear those of a similar nature. Similarly, in the spirit of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, the prosecution is normally instructed not to refer to “spent” convictions in open court. The exercise of magisterial discretion on the Clerkenwell bench was reported (BBC Checkpoint Radio 4, September 8, 1983) by a probation officer to that court, before which large numbers of women charged with prostitution related offences appear. One particular member of the bench has found his way of avoiding sentencing restrictions imposed by the Criminal Justice Act 1982. Instead of sentencing a prostitute to a term of imprisonment, he fines her heavily and when the woman is unable to pay in the stipulated time, imprisonment is imposed. Other magistrates in the same court take a more humane view of prostitution related activities.

For a discussion on the effects of prostitution in Leicester see Russell K. V. , (1979) “Prostitution in Leicester,” Police Journal Vol. 52. No. 1.

Morris N. Hawkins M. (1969) The Honest Politician's Guide to Crime Control, University of Chicago, p. 2.

During 1981 Gallup monitored public feeling about social problems on three occasions. Table II beneath gives the results. The question posed was: Do you think any of these are very serious social problems in Britain today?.

Webb N. Wybrow R. , (1982) The Gallup Report: Your Opinions in 1981, Sphere Books, pp. 182–3.

Acton W. (1972) Prostitution Considered in its Moral, Social and Sanitary Aspects, Cass. Report of Second Edition.

Anderton C. J. (1983) Personal letter. October 6, 1983.

Anderson M. (1975) “Hookers Arise!” Human Behaviour, January, pp. 40–42.

Bailey P. (1982) An English Madam, Jonathan Cape.

Birmingham Post (1983) “13 caught in clamp on kerb crawlers.” October 18, 1983. Davidson R. N. (1981) Crime & Environment, Croom Helm.

Davis K. (1937) “The Sociology of Prostitution,” American Sociological Review. October pp. 746–755.

Farrington D. P. Morris A. M. (1983) Sex, “Sentencing & Reconviction,” British Journal of Criminology 23(3) July 1983 p. 249.

Finnegan F. (1979) Poverty and Prostitution, Cambridge University Press.

Frey J. H. Reichert L. R. Russell K. V. (1981) “Prostitution, Business and Police: The Maintenance of an Illegal Economy,” Police Journal, Vol. LIV, p. 239.

Gibbens T. C. N. (1971) “Female Offenders,” British Journal of Hospital Medicine, Sept. 1971. pp. 279–286.

Glass's Guide (1976) Glass's Guide Service Ltd.

Glover E. (1969) The Psychopathology of Prostitution, ISTD.

Government Statistical Office (1983) Social Trends, HMSO.

Greenwald H. (1958) The Call Girl: A Social and Psychoanalytical Study. Ballantine Books.

Haft M. (1974) “Hustling for Rights” The Civil Liberties Review. Winter-Spring, pp. 8–26.

Hall J. (1952) Theft, Law, and Society. 2nd ed. Bobbs — Merrill.

Harrison F. (1979) The Dark Angel, Fontana.

Hogarth J. (1971) Sentencing as a Human Process, University of Toronto press.

Home Office (1959) Circular 108/59.

Home Office (1982) Criminal Justice Act, HMSO.

Home Office (1976) Report of the Working Party on vagrancy and Street Offences, HMSO.

Home Office (1959) Street Offences Act, HMSO.

Home Office (1982) Working Paper on Offences relating to prostitution and allied offences, HMSO.

Jackman N. R. O'Toole R. Geiss G. (1963) “The Self Image of the Prostitute,” The Sociological Quarterly, No. 4 Spring. pp. 150–160.

Jennings M. A. (1976) “The Victim as criminal — a consideration of California's Prostitution Law”. California Law Review, Vol. 64. September 1976, No. 5, pp. 1234–1284.

Kinsey A. C. Pomeroy W. B. Martin C. C. (1948) Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male, W. B. Saunders.

Klein D. Kress J. (1975) “Any Women's Blues: A Critical Overview of Women, Crime and the Criminal Justice System, “Revised version, A. S. C. Conference, published in Crime and Social Justice, No. 5.

Klockars C. V. (1974) The Professional Fence, Tavistock.

McLeod Eileen (1982) Women Working: Prostitution Now, Croom Helm.

Millet K. (1971) The Prostitution Papers, Ballantine Books.

Morris N. Hawkins G. (1969) The Honest Politician's Guide to Crime Control, University of Chicago.

Russell K. V. (1979) “Prostitution in Leicester,” Police Journal, Vol. LII, No. 1 (January 1979).

Russell K. V. (1982) “When the Wages of Sin are Taxed,” Sunday Telegraph, November 28, 1982.

Smart C. (1976) Women, Crime and Criminology, R. K. P.

Stein Martha L. (1974) Lovers, Friends, Slaves, Berkley Medallion Books.

Tarling R. with Weatheritt M. (1979) Sentencing in Magistrates' Courts , HMSO. The Times (1983) “1,000 are charged in vice drive”. March 29, 1983.

Trigg P. (1980) Prostitution, Unpublished.

Walsh Marilyn E. (1977) The Fence, Greenwood Press.

Webb Norman Wybrow Robert (1982) The Gallup Report: Your Opinions in 1981, Sphere Books.

Winick C. Kinsie M. (1971) The Lively Commerce: Prostitution in the United States, New American Library.

Winslow R. W. Winslow V. (1974) Deviant Reality: Alternative World Views, Allyn and Bacon.

Worrall A. (1981) “Female offenders in Court: Out of Place,” Probation Journal 27(3) September 1981.