Draft proposals developed to assist forces deal with sex work

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Prostitution and Exploitation, Assistant Chief Constable Nikki Holland said:

"Sex work can polarise opinion and prompt passionate debate; this draft strategy aims to provide practical advice to forces to help them balance competing demands in this area of policing.

“Selling and purchasing sex are not illegal per se, but some associated activities are criminalised and there are links to illegal activities like exploitation, organised crime and drug use.

"The majority of sex workers are not committing offences but that they are a vulnerable group that we have a responsibility to protect. The horrendous murder of five young women in Ipswich in 2006 highlighted the need to improve our response to vulnerable sex workers. Since 1990, there have been 152 sex workers murdered in the UK.

"There is no perfect solution to dealing with sex work and sexual exploitation but this draft strategy sets out an approach that considers risk, threat and harm to all and aims to tackle both neighbourhood nuisance and the exploitation of sex workers by organised criminals and gangs."

Further information:

This draft strategy will now be subject to consultation.  At this stage it has not been endorsed by the NPCC.  This strategy is written to assist forces who will determine their own approach to sex work and related issues locally.