On the first day of the UK's Labour Party conference, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced several measures to address prostitution by cracking down on its demand. The plan tightens existing solicitation laws by punishing street solicitation and "kerb-crawling" at the first offense, instead of after "persistent" offenses; closing brothels for three months if pimps or trafficking are involved, instead of anti-social behavior or Class-A drugs; and prosecuting solicitors who pay for sex with a woman "controlled for another person's gain," i.e. pimps or people engaged in trafficking, instead of requiring proof that the woman did not consent to sex.
The plan is a result of a six-month review of prostitution in the area and concern about women who are victims of trafficking. The plan will also increase local communty control over proposed lap-dancing clubs.
Compiled from: Watt, Nicholas, Labour Conference: Total Ban for Sex Soliciting and Kerb-Crawling, The Guardian, UK News, 5 (22 September 2008).