Are you paying for sex?
“I just think you bastard . . . you just don’t understand what’s going on”
Alma, sex trafficking survivor
“They are not real men. I don’t believe normal men would want to buy women for sex”
Oksana, sex trafficking survivor
“Does anyone really want to have sex with someone who actually hates you? Who is actually being forced at the threat of serious violence to her or her family to do that?”
Richard Bartman, Human Rights Lawyer
Do you pay for sex?
If you do, you are not alone.
Many men are motivated to buy sex out of curiosity, loneliness or sexual frustration.
Whilst it has become easier and more socially acceptable to buy sex in recent times, you should know that:
It is increasingly likely that the woman has been trafficked
- London police estimate that 70% of the 88,000 women involved in prostitution in England and Wales are under the control of traffickers.
It is illegal to buy sex from a woman who has been trafficked
- Sex with a trafficked woman is RAPE. You can be prosecuted under the Sexual Offences Act 2004.
- Men are already being arrested under a new law that came into force on 1 April 2010 (The UK Policing and Crime Act 2009), which makes it an offence to pay for sexual services from someone who has been subjected to force
The woman is not enjoying it
- 95% of women survivors of sex trafficking interviewed for a 2006 study reported physical or sexual violence, with three quarters of respondents having been physically hurt, and 90% reporting having been sexually assaulted.
- Generally, the literature indicates that women working in prostitution are not sexually aroused by prostitution
- Most of the time during a sexual transaction women in prostitution experienced a negative emotional state (see Eaves, 2009)
Have you ever thought that the woman was trafficked?
If you have information about women or girls you think have been trafficked, call CRIMESTOPPERS on 0800 555 111, or visit their website .
Your information could help free those suffering in slavery.
