Myths

Amanda giving evidence on the Bill:

“if they don’t get their needs satisfied … they turn”

“if they can’t turn on you in the room the turn on you outside of the room” [punter net]

if I don’t look the right way, if I didn’t say the right thing, I’m punished either behind closed doors or for everyone to see, hear and read about”

“if you behave you’ll get away with ‘she’s good enough’ but if you don’t .. you’re done for’”

#3 ‘Men will no longer give their details – so Women can’t Screen them’

FACT: Men Aren’t Giving Their Details Now

Men don’t give their details now. Most of them are married, most know the women they buy are coerced, trafficked or underage. They don’t want anyone to locate them on social media or expose them to their family or general public. That is why publicly naming a man as a sex buyers is such a major deterrent (not to mention incredibly easy and inexpensive).

Men don’t give their real names.

They pay in cash.

They are not screened by pimping websites – like AdultWork or VivaStreet – unlike the women being sold on them. Even if pimping websites have their details and credit card information they will never, never disclose this to the authorities. This is despite (or possibly because) the police ‘working in partnership’ with pimping websites – and have been for years. This ‘partnerships’ exists despite it being recognised that these sites acting as a hub for trafficking and exploitation, yet NONE have EVER reported any suspicious behaviour to the authorities.

If you work independently from AirBnBs, you can’t screen punters even now. Men are not going to book you if you demand to see their passport, ID, credit cards. The only ‘screening’ you can do is by speaking to them on the phone (often a ‘burner’ phone or second Sim) and trying to ‘assess’ what they might be like.

One of the only times a punter gives his details is if he books a hotel room where a woman services him. He will have had to give his real name and credit card to the hotel. So there is a traceable record, somewhere, of who he is.

#4 ‘Women will Earn Less as there will be Fewer Punters. Women will also have to cross their boundaries to make the same amount of money’

FACT: Actually women will earn more, be safer and have more control

In countries with an Unbuyable Law, women earn substantially more (up to 7 times more) than where punters and pimps are decriminalised. They also experience less abuse and are more able to be in control.

That’s because there is far less competition as the vast majority (90%) in the industry want to get out. There are also far fewer women – and children – entering the industry in the first place. And, because there are fewer sex buyers, ‘Unbuyable’ countries are no longer attractive to pimps and trafficking rings, so women are far more likely to be able to work truly independently without being controlled by pimps and organised crime.

Women in ‘Unbuyable’ countries are also far more able to keep their personal boundaries than elsewhere.

A look at murder rates is the ultimate marker of ‘how safe’ the sex industry is. The highest recorded prostitution murder rate in the Western World is in New Zealand, which is fully decriminalised. Just like the sex work lobby wants. The lowest murder rate (zero murders due to prostitution in the last 25 years) is in Sweden – which has an Unbuyable Law – which the sex work lobby avidly campaign against.

Murder Rates Compared:

‘Legalised’ is just a more regulated form of ‘Fully Decriminalised’. Although more regulation is surely going to be safer, sex work groups do NOT want this.

#The ‘Safety in Brothels’ Myth

FACT: Why ‘2 person Brothels’ CANNOT be Legalised

If  ‘mini brothels’ (of 2 or 3 people) are made lawful, then organised crime will set up 2 person brothels in every town, city and village hall. Pimps and traffickers always use every opportunity, exploit every loophole to profiteer. And allowing ‘small brothels’ will give them the green light.

And it will be absolutely impossible to tell, let alone prove, which, if any, of these mini brothels are ‘independent women working together’ and which are full of trafficked and pimped women.

#1 ‘Women won’t be able to Work Together as then they are illegal Brothel Keepers’

Brothel-keeping is not relevant to the Unbuyable Law.

This Law is not making brothel keeping illegal. Brothel keeping is already illegal.

The aim of the law is to DECRIMINALISE all who sell sex, which is not currently the case. And the Law works best where police work with women in prostitution, not against them. It is very clear where large brothels are run by pimps and organised crime and police treat that totally differently from when it is an AirBnB booked by a couple of women.

#2 ‘Women Working together is the Best way of Staying Safe’ 

You are no safer working together. It might feel safer but that might actually make it more dangerous by lulling you into a false sense of security.

The fact is, you are alone in a room with a man who is bigger and stronger than you and often feels entitled to do absolutely anything he wants. He can knock you out, smother you, assault you  – and do it easily and quietly. If your friend does hear and realise something is wrong, what’s she going to do? How’s she going to stop him? If she calls the police, and they come before the punter gets away then what? ..

.. Without an Unbuyable Law you have to prove assault – which is almost impossible (even for women not in prostitution).

.. But with the Unbuyable law, a woman simply has to tell the police he bought her for sex and he’s already a criminal. End of.

Even if he actually listens to your ‘no’ when you set boundaries and doesn’t assault you, he will give you bad reviews on punter forums, through the escort agency etc and you’ll get less business. Screwed if you do, screwed if you don’t.

The best way to stay safe(r) – the only way of staying safe(r) –  is by criminalising buyers.

But the only way to truly be safe is to not be in the sex trade at all.

Amanda giving evidence on the Unbuyable Bill:

Myth: ‘It Will Go Underground’

FACT: The industry cannot ‘go underground’ because punters have to find it. And if they can, the authorities and services certainly can.

#2 What does ‘going underground’ mean?

Does it mean there will be more of the ‘illegal industry’ – unlicensed brothels, trafficking and child prostitution? But these are significantly lower in every country that has adopted an Unbuyable law. They are sky high in every country that has done what the sex work lobby wants – decriminalise pimps and punters.

Does ‘going underground’ mean there will be more abuse in the industry even for women not trafficked or underage? Again this is simply not true. ‘Unbuyable laws’ reduce the level of violence and abuse towards all women in the industry. The exact opposite is true where pimps and punters are decriminalised – as the sex work lobby campaigns for.

Does ‘going underground’ mean the police, support groups and others won’t know where it is, what is going on, be able to stop violence and abuse, trafficking or underage prostitution? Again, an Unbuyable law means far better policing, control and support – particularly as women in the industry can work with the police with no fear of being criminalised.

FACT: Decriminalising pimps and punters is what drives the industry underground 

Wherever pimps and punters are decriminalised, the industry mushrooms out of control. In New Zealand (which is what the sex work lobby wants across the globe), police may not even enter brothels, the Government has no idea of the level of organised crime involved (often involving compounds with armed guards) or the level of trafficking. In fact it believes there is zero sex trafficking despite international reports exposing the country as a hub for trafficking of underage indigenous girls.

The fact is, the more ‘above board’ the industry is, the more ‘underground’ it behaves.

Myth: ‘Ugly Mugs Safety App will be Banned’

National Ugly Mugs allows people in the sex industry to report details of abusive punters. It should be noted that this organisation, although Government funded, is heavily linked to pimps (eg Ugly Mugs Ireland was set up by Escort Ireland, run by pimps;  National Ugly Mugs has been funded to the tune of £100,000 by escort site, Vivastreet). It also lobbies hard for the industry to be deregulated and sex buyers and third party profiteers (‘pimps’) to be decriminalised.

#1 ‘Pimping/Escort Websites’ will be illegal and will be banned

This argument is false and irrelevant. An UNBUYABLE Law does not and cannot ban ‘pimping’ websites – sites where men buy women, like AdultWork and VivaStreet. The Scottish Government cannot do anything about ‘pimping websites’, even if it wanted to, because this is under the control of the UK Parliament.

#2 ‘Ugly Mugs will be illegal and will be banned’

The argument is false and even more  irrelevant. Ugly Mugs is clearly not a pimping website. It does not advertise prostitution. So why is Ugly Mugs claiming it will be banned –  and instilling fear into the very people it is supposed to protect?

‘Sex Workers are Terrified’ by an Unbuyable Law

One of the main reasons women in the sex trade are terrified is because of the constant fear mongering and misinformation being fed to them, to the public and to decision makers by the powerful sex work lobby.

This lobby constantly presents false evidence and makes totally unfounded, sometimes ridiculous claims –  stating women have the luxury of ‘assessing buyers’ or ‘setting boundaries’; promoting ‘sex work’ to (often teenage) University Students suggesting you can best stay safe by ‘being on top’ or ‘wearing a scarf’; claiming that the  support provided by Ugly Mugs will be shut down; that only women who want to exit the industry will be supported under an Unbuyable Law and on and on …

These are groups that want the industry deregulated and punters and profiteers decriminalised.

These are groups that do not actually support the vast majority in the industry –  the 90% who are desperate to leave – they provide no meaningful exiting support, how can they when they believe this inherently harmful, highly abusive industry is ‘just a job’?

These are totally non-representative groups – they do not represent the horrific reality of prostitution, they do not represent those in the industry and they do not represent the policies that actually work for anyone other than pimps and sex buyers.