New law for men who pay for sex

Giving abuse of women the red light...new criminal charge to help girls like michelle.


SITTING on a filthy mattress, 15-year-old prostitute Michelle gazed out of the window of the tiny bedsit where she had been held captive for two years.
A middle-aged, overweight man entered the east London hovel and, without saying a word, started to undress.

Blinking back her tears, Jamaican-born Michelle smiled at the stranger as he lay on the mattress beside her.

She nodded robotically when he asked: "Are you going to enjoy this?"

Twenty minutes later, the man left without giving her a backward glance.

Calling card ... what they should really say

For Michelle, this was a horrific daily experience she will never forget.

Taken from her family home in Jamaica at 13, she was brought to England to work as a child prostitute.


Arrest
Until now, men like those who paid Michelle's pimp to have sex with a vulnerable, underage girl would most likely not have faced charges if the police had caught them.

But last week Parliament passed a key clause in the Policing And Crime Bill 2009, which means anyone found paying for sex with a vulnerable woman "controlled for gain" will face arrest and prosecution.

This group includes girls like Michelle, who have been trafficked to the UK, as well as drug-addicted or homeless women forced into selling themselves by dealers or pimps.

For the first time ever, a man will not be able to claim ignorance as a defence if he is caught paying for sex. Typical excuses given to police in the past have included: "I thought this was a massage parlour" and "I thought she was over 18".

Any explanations will now be ignored and the man faces receiving a criminal record and being fined up to £1,000.

Women's rights group The Poppy Project have been fighting for years to change the law so that the punters who make prostitution a high-demand business are punished, rather than the women forced to sell their bodies.


‘ My life was hell and I could see no way of getting out. I desperately wished someone would save me ’
Researcher Ruth Brisling, from the charity Lilith Project who work with The Poppy Project, said: "The old law only found men who paid for sex with a girl aged 13 or under guilty of a crime.

"Above that, they could plead ignorance, were given a slap on the wrist and sent home. This new law changes that. Pleading ignorance will no longer be acceptable and paying for sex with a vulnerable woman working against her will now be completely illegal.

"In a survey we did, nine out of ten women who are selling their bodies are working against their will. Punters may not be aware of this, or choose to ignore it, but either way it is not acceptable.

"It is the punter who keeps the industry going. Now that they will be punished, we are sure the demand will reduce, meaning fewer women will be put at risk in this dangerous industry."

Michelle, now 23, was brought to England by a Jamaican pimp. She is certain that the new law would have helped her. She said: "The type of men that paid to be with me were wealthy and well-dressed. They would have been ashamed to be arrested for paying for sex, especially with an underage girl. It would definitely have deterred them."

Michelle was targeted by a pimp called Bill while living in Jamaica. He fooled her and her mother into trusting him.

After convincing them that he wanted to take Michelle to the UK to pay for her education so she could have a better life, he brought her to London.

Michelle recalled: "I am from a poor family and Bill filled our hands with money and told my mother he would look after me. But when I arrived things turned bad very quickly.

"I was put in a dirty, horrible bedsit and Bill's sister, who was very aggressive towards me, stayed with me so I would not escape.

"After a couple of weeks Bill brought a man to the flat. He told me I had to make the man happy. I refused and started screaming. I tried to escape but Bill's sister started beating me.

"They both said my mother and sister would be killed if I did not sleep with the man. It was terrifying and I was still a virgin - I knew nothing about sex.

"I cried the whole time, and when the man left they beat me again because I hadn't pretended I was enjoying it."

For the next three years, Michelle was imprisoned in the flat and forced to sleep with paying customers at least once a day. She says: "My life was hell and I could see no way of getting out. I desperately wished someone would save me.

"My clients were all types of men but many wore wedding rings. It was like I was their dirty secret. When they left my bedsit, they convinced themselves that they hadn't done anything wrong.

"Some would pay extra for sex without protection, which Bill forced me to do.

"Money can buy a lot in this country but it shouldn't be able to buy a person."

Michelle finally managed to escape when she was left alone for an afternoon. Aged 16, with no money or friends to help her and too scared of reprisals to go to the police, she fled to a women's hostel.


Burned
She said: "Two months after I left, my mother's house was burned down and my little sister was shot in the foot. I know Bill was responsible and I'm still so scared they will be killed."

Michelle - who now has a four-year-old daughter from a relationship she had after escaping her pimp - wishes she had received more legal protection.

She added: "This law coming in could have saved me from ever being trafficked. If men in this country did not pay for sex, Bill would not have made money and would never have taken me. It's time the men who pay for prostitutes face punishment.

"They are ultimately responsible for the trafficking of young girls into this country."


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