Legislating P4P

Labour MPs are attempting to launch the most draconian clampdown on sex work devised in Britain in decades, campaigners have warned.

Sex workers told Novara Media that the measures proposed by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi could unjustly criminalise their friends and family and put prostitutes' safety at risk.

Antoniazzi, the Labour MP for Gower, has put forward two amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, due to be discussed in parliament on Wednesday.

Clause NC2 seeks to make it a criminal offence to enable or profit from the prostitution of another person, including by operating a website hosting adverts for prostitution. This clause states it would be against the law for individuals to assist, facilitate, control, or incite someone to engage in sexual activity for money or another form of benefit anywhere in the world.

Clause NC3 seeks to outlaw buying, offering, or promising payment in exchange for sexual activity.

The English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), a campaign group that supports sex workers, claims the clauses could criminalise anyone who associates with a sex worker -- workmates, drivers, web-makers, receptionists, friends, clients. The clauses would also criminalise the advertising sites which sex workers depend on to work independently and in greater safety.

The amendments to the legislation have gained the support of cross-party MPs, with Labour's Diane Abbott and Sarah Champion, as well as former Labour MP Rosie Duffield (now an independent) among them.

Niki Adams, a spokesperson for the ECP, said the amendments would force us [sex workers] to work in isolation and put us at much greater risk of attack and of violence.

Although it is not illegal for individuals to buy or sell sex from each other in England, Scotland and Wales, many activities associated with prostitution are unlawful, including a sex worker teaming up with another person or a group to protect their safety while working.

Adams warned that the legislation could lead to friends and family being targeted, as the amendments do not specify that the individual must profit from their sex work.

Repressive  Swedish law currently criminalizes purchasing or procuring in-person sexual services but does not criminalize sex workers who provide such services. This approach is commonly referred to as the Nordic model. Under the new proposal, anyone who pays someone to perform a sexual act online, without actual physical contact, would be subject to the same criminal liability as those who hire in-person sex workers.

The proposal also includes liability for procuring such services, which could lead to enforcement against fan and webcam platforms, or conceivably even against creators who collaborate together.

Swedish creators have expressed concern that, under the proposed law, OnlyFans' terms of service could preclude Swedish creators from using the site -- and could even criminalize their personal lives, since living with a partner or receiving support could now be considered pimping.

The ESWA, a sex worker-led network representing more than 100 organizations in 30 countries across Europe and Central Asia, told XBIZ that it has launched a public petition urging the Swedish government to reject this proposal. The group writes:

This proposal represents a regressive and dangerous step that threatens the human rights, privacy, safety and livelihoods of sex workers and digital creators in Sweden and beyond. Websites and platforms hosting or facilitating consensual digital sex work could be prosecuted for 'digital pimping' creating a chilling effect that may lead to mass deplatforming of sex workers.

The ESWA is urging anyone who supports Swedish sex workers to add their name to the open letter. See petition from eswalliance.org