A Critical Account CCJ Scoular Carline.pdf (325.53 kB)
Download fileA critical account of a 'creeping neo-abolitionism': Regulating prostitution in England and Wales
journal contribution
posted on 2015-07-10, 12:04 authored by J. Scoular, Anna CarlineAn increasingly dominant neo-abolitionist perspective on the issue of prostitution is currently
taking hold across Europe. Pioneered in Sweden, this approach considers prostitution as
inherently oppressive and seeks to tackle the dynamics of supply and demand by
criminalising purchasers and offering support to sellers who are regarded as victims. Against
recent calls from both the European Parliament and an All Party Parliamentary Group on
prostitution to universalise this model, we urge caution against moving any further in this
direction. Our argument is informed, not only by critical accounts of the ‘Nordic model’, but
also by emerging research which highlights the negative effects of recent criminal and
‘therapeutic’ interventions in England and Wales that have already attempted to reduce the
demand and supply of commercial sex: the strict liability offence of paying for sexual
services of a prostitute subject to exploitation and Engagement and Support Orders (ESOs)
for on-street sex workers.
We offer both normative insights and draw upon the findings of the first empirical
study of ESOs, in order to highlight the problems that emerge when the complexities of
commercial sexual exchange are reduced into a binary of ‘victims and victimizers’ to be
saved or corrected by criminal justice sanctioned initiatives. In conclusion, we argue for a
more productive use of the criminal law that complements rather than eclipses the wider
social justice concerns in this arena.
History
Citation
Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2014, 14 (5), pp. 608-626 (19)Author affiliation
/Organisation/COLLEGE OF ARTS, HUMANITIES AND LAW/School of LawVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)