12 FEATURES
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The Law on
PROSTITUTION
for money Interestingly, the act of performing sexual acts place to in laws are there ver, is not illegal in the UK. Howe ult for diffic more it make and n itutio heavily restrict prost s: selve them et mark prostitutes to
lling prostitution for Causing, inciting or contro aning the roles of being a personal gain is illegal – me pimp and madam is illegal. Running a brothel is illegal – a brothel being defined as one or more persons offering sex for money in the same building.
The darker side of sex
sex or loiter It’s against the law to solicit et. on the stre Since 2001, adverts in phone boxes have been banned.
Ahead of the upcoming Concrete Sex Survey, Lauren Razavi looks at the undiscovered world of a UK industry worth over £1billion
A
s citizens of the contemporary world, we’re all too aware of sex. Sex is everywhere, and we’ve never been so blatant about it. Throughout the nineties, the hugely influential Sex and the City franchise was forwardthinking in its approach to sex and the issues surrounding it. This signalled an important change in our attitude towards sex generally. So, will our attitude to the industry surrounding sex be next thing to change? From government STI campaigns to Hollywood films about 40-year-old virgins, the world has sex on its mind. But what about the work that surrounds the ever-elusive concept of S-E-X? The UK’s sex industry is worth more than £1 billion and encompasses everything from lads’ mags to street prostitution. But what do we think of it, and are we already involved in it more than we think? On 28th September 2007, Billie Piper – formerly a teen pop sensation who first entered the public eye aged fifteen – made her debut appearance as Belle du Jour, a high-end London call girl. The series is based on the reallife experiences of Dr. Brooke Magnanti, and centres on Belle’s adventures working as a selfemployed London prostitute who
earns more than £100,000 per year. She even employs an accountant, as any good businesswoman would. Secret Diary of a Call Girl averaged 1,242,125 viewers on ITV2 over the course of its twelve-episode first season. This gives us clear insight into the nations’ attitude towards the sex industry, or at least towards high-end prostitution. Actually, we’re pretty fascinated by the whole thing. But the world of prostitution isn’t all glitz and glamour; on the flipside, there’s an altogether darker flavour to it. It’s been estimated that a massive 80,000 sex workers currently operate in the UK, and of that figure, a shocking 4,000 women and children have been trafficked into the country to work as ‘sex slaves’. Combine this issue with the idea that some people only enter the world of prostitution in an attempt to feed addictions or because they lack feelings of basic self-worth, and it becomes clearer why the grittier world of prostitution is approached with a hush-hush attitude. Back in 2009, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith suffered public embarrassment when her husband’s fondness for pornography was revealed during a series of scandalous reports over
It’s been estimated that a massive 80,000 sex workers currently operate in the UK, 4,000 of which are women and children working as sex slaves.
vided Kerb-crawling is banned pro was son it can be proven that the per . nce causing an annoya
MPs’ expenses. The nation seemed to explode in judgement not only over the expenses implications unveiled, but also over the fact that Jacqui Smith’s husband was watching pornography. Ms. Smith publicly apologised and expressed embarrassment at the situation, saying she had “forgiven” her husband. But it’s been estimated that 80% of men in the UK watch pornography, and that 50% of couples watch pornography together. Despite a huge percentage of our population engaging with porn, it seems any public mention of it sends the nation into either a fit of giggles or a frenzy of disgust. But why are we so ashamed of this widespread activity? We can accept that our MPs are human, can’t we? And what man in his forties hasn’t watched porn at some point? The sex industry was one of the first commercial areas to realise and utilise the power of the internet, and as a result, pornography has never been easier to access. And that applies to everyone no matter what their age. Clicking a tiny little box confirming that you’re an adult is all it takes to convince websites you’re worthy of their custom. As a result, the average age of first exposure to porn for boys is just eleven years
old - that’s primary school children. 63% of 15-19 year old girls would rather be a glamour model than a nurse, teacher or doctor. Maybe it’s shocking statistics like this that have created a national taboo over pornography, particular with the older ‘parental’ generations. But the figures become less startling when you consider the messages relayed by today’s media industry. We are bombarded by pornographic images in all aspects of our daily life – from not-quiteexplicit music videos by the latest pop-stars to the sex-stained photoshoots of high fashion magazines, nods to pornography are everywhere. Our society is more sexualised than ever, and we seem to be modelling our next generation into provocateurs, with even children’s fashion being edgier and sexier than the world has ever known. Whether this is encouraging a more positive, liberal approach to the sex industry in general or simply damaging the next generation of our society beyond repair is an important and separate debate, but the fact that the debate exists certainly highlights the ways in which the sex industry is beginning to dominate the way we live. Even if on the surface we have a psychological crutch about
Whether this is encouraging a more positive, liberal approach to the sex industry in general or simply damaging the next generation of our society beyond repair
prostitutes and pornography, it’s undeniable that our media is beginning to incorporate these things into everyday life. Our interest in all things sex is often sparked further by observing our favourite celebrities engaging with it. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt take proud trips to designer sex boutique Coco De Mer when they visit London, candidly spending thousands on sex toys and the suchlike; ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria have both talked during interviews about their use of sex toys. Oxford graduate and world famous actor Hugh Grant was famously caught with a prostitute back in 1995, and both actor Colin Farrell and scientist Stephen Hawking have frequented lap-dancing club Stringfellows in London over the past few years. Anybody surprised by Hawking’s extra-curricular activities might be interested to know that one in four lapdancers has an undergraduate degree, and the majority earn between £24,000 and £48,000 per year from dancing. Prostitution and pornography are areas that we can clearly identify when we think about the sex industry, but there are ‘softer’ areas that we may not always
associate with its scope. How many of us have innocently enjoyed the services of a stripper at a stag or hen party, or know people who have? How many of us have bought a naughty little fancy dress outfit in Ann Summers for an extra special occasion? Things like this might seem more mundane than their counterparts, but nevertheless, they’re clear indications of our engagement with the sex industry and the way it is impacting on us. There are valid indications that we are moving forward, changing our attitudes and consciously opening our minds to the sex industry, and it’s clear that more and more of us are involving ourselves in the sex industry in one way or another – whether it be through watching internet pornography, buying sex toys or naughty outfits, or even just being tantalised by Lady Gaga. But it’s important to remember that the sex industry is not without its problems. Perhaps if there wasn’t such a taboo around the subject it could be better regulated and we could protect the victims of this ultra-powerful multi-million pound industry.
SEX INDUSTRY FACTS
Prostitution is the world’s oldest known profession.
One in ten British
men have visited a
prostitute.
There are at least 921 brothels in London alone, spread across almost every borough of the city.
In the US states of Alabama and Miss issippi, sex toys an d vibrators are bann ed.
More than 10,000 hardcore porn films are made in LA every year, compared to a Hollywood average of 400 entertainment films.
The first ever pornographic film is believed to have bee n ‘A l’Ecu d’Or’ (also known as La Bonne Auberge), wh ich was made in France in 1908.
The world’s oldest known dildo is from around 30,000 years ago. It is 20cm long and made of siltstone. It was found in Germany.
There are approximately nin
ety sex shops in the UK.