More Britons believe sex workers should not be punished for operating out of brothels or on the street than those who think they should, an opinion poll commissioned by RightsInfo has found. Forty-nine percent of British people surveyed are in favour of decriminalising brothel-keeping, an offence punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Less than a quarter of those surveyed are against relaxing police enforcement on brothels 22 percent , while 27 percent are opposed to ending penalties for street solicitation.
The results of the poll, conducted by market research agency Survation , are based on views of more than 2, people in what is the first major test of public opinion on sex work decriminalisation in four years. It is technically legal to sell sex in Britain but several practical aspects of the trade are outlawed β such as street solicitation and working in a brothel.
Around a fifth of people polled 21 percent neither oppose nor support decriminalisation of either activity. The poll results come amid renewed debate on sex work law reform among MPs, unions, activists, as well as human rights and anti-trafficking groups.
People are horrified that sex workers suffer so much violence and understand that the prostitution laws, which force women to work in isolation, increase the danger of attack. Activist group the English Collective of Prostitutes has long campaigned for decriminalisation, arguing that brothel-keeping laws undermine sex worker safety by forcing them to work alone or face possible arrest and prosecution.
