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Criminal Justice Policies Concerning Prostitution We can draw an analogy between two negative social events like prostitution and violation of standards of behavior. These anti-social behaviors are the issue of the day. Remedial legislation of world countries declares the war to prostitution. However, ideological paradox of these campaigns is quite interesting. The more federal authorities try to fight with prostitution, the more indulgent becomes the society in relation to this problem.
Besides, mass media products like books, films, TV-programs and radio programs that have an objective in mind to denounce and condemn prostitution often become its effective advertising and flourish of trumpets. Legislature of many world countries foresees no criminal liability for prostitution. Instead, criminal policy specifies definite rules of behavior and foresees criminal liability not for the fact of prostitution but for violation of established rules of behavior. Criminal liability for prostitution exists in such countries lie Romania, Hungary, etc. Homosexual prostitution is the subject to criminal liability in Afghanistan, Argentine, Austria, Denmark, etc. What concerns the United States, federal law foresees criminal liability for prostitution in majority of states.
In Germany prostitution is considered a penal action in case a prostitute was caught in an unalloyed place. These places are specially enumerated for different cities and districts. English legislature foresees no criminal liability for the fact of prostitution. Italian legislature also has no criminal liability for prostitution but allows no houses of prostitution. As far as we can see, the attitude to prostitution mainly depends on moral evaluation of social and criminal aspects of prostitution as a social phenomenon. Prostitution (from Latin term prostate - to be sold publicly) implies various sexual services offered for sale (usually for money), intimacy for money, in contrast to intimacy for love.
Generally definition of prostitution implies socially organized forms of sexual services offered for sale. Relations between prostitution's and souteneur's are often considered the natural spontaneous form of prostitution. Houses of prostitution are more complex form of prostitution. Major part of Christian countries foresees no peculiar criminal liability for prostitution. However, all countries foresee criminal liability for involving in prostitution of infants, people suffering from mental aberration, to mention a few.
Besides, many world countries foresee criminal liability for organization of prostitution as a business. Now lets examine the criminal liability for prostitution by the example of England, Russia, Canada and the United States of America. England is quite indulgent in relation to prostitution. British Home Office considers that attitude to prostitution is the fact of the matter. David Blunkett, the head of Home Office recommended discussing measures aimed to reduce the consequences of losses caused by uncontrollable illegal prostitution. One of the measures proposed by the Home Office is to register prostitutes, to oblige them to regular and obligatory medical examinations, and to create so-called tolerance areas where the prostitutes would be controlled by police.
Both ministers, physicians, policemen and even prostitutes take an active part in discussions related to the problems of prostitution. Blunkett considers that modern British laws regulating the issues are outmoded, conflicting and ineffective and proposes "licensing arrangements and other relevant regulations" under local authority control (Guardian n. p. ). British municipalities support the idea of legalization.
They consider that legalization of prostitution will help to reduce the scale of street prostitution as a social event, as well as quantity of sexually transmitted diseases. Illegal houses of prostitution that function under the cover of saunas, massage salons, and escort agencies should become a thing of the past. According to the British Home Office, they should be replaced by legal brothels. In fact, prostitution in Great Britain is not prohibited under the British law. Criminal Justice Act 2003 mainly dwells on offences related to the issues of prostitution and contains paragraphs concerning those who live on earnings of prostitution.
According to this Act, the prostitution by adults aged 18 and over is not an offence in itself (Section 52: Causing or inciting prostitution for gain) and paragraphs in the Act are mainly aimed to cover those who, for gain, recruit others into prostitution, whether this be by the exercise of force or otherwise (Criminal Justice Act 2003 Section 52). British criminal policy allows no solicitation in public places. The men are also not allowed searching for a prostitute. However, paid sex is not considered a penal action, in contrast to Sweden. For example, one of the British laws concerning procuring, seduction, prostitution, etc.
is the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 (c. 39). According to this law, the person causes or encourages prostitution of a girl under 16 (art. 10 (a), he shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months (Criminal Law Act 1995) What concerns souteneur's, British criminal policy foresees a criminal penalty for getting profit from exploitation of prostitute or controlling prostitution and criminal liability in this case can reach 7 years of prison. Lets provide the definition for term gain as it is provided by Criminal Justice Act 2003 Section 54 in order to understand the attitude of British government concerning criminal liability for being a softener. According to Criminal Justice Act 2003, gain is defined as any financial advantage, including the discharge of a debt or obligation to pay, or the provision of goods or services (including sexual services) for free, or at a discount (Criminal Justice Act 2003, Section 54: Sections 52 and 53: interpretation).
Correspondingly, the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 foresees special measures in relation to souteneur's concerning trading in prostitution and brothel-keeping. According to this act, (paragraph 11. (1) ) the person who knowingly lives wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution; or in any public place persistently solicits or importunes for immoral purposes is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months. In case the court receives information on oath that there is a probability that an apartment is used by females for prostitution purposes, the court is allowed to issue a warrant authorizing a policeman to search the house. In case the information turns out to be correct, the court is authorized to make an investigation in court. Besides, the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 foresees the penalties for female- softener who is proved to have, for the purposes of gain, exercised control, direction or influence over the movements of a prostitute in such a manner as to show that she is aiding, abetting or compelling her prostitution with any other person to be convicted of an offence under subsection (5) of the Act and, consequently, to be liable in the sheriff court to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or in the district court to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months (Section 11). Such Acts like Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, International Criminal Court Act 2001, Sex Offenders Act 1997, the Sexual Offences Act 1967, Sexual Offences Act 1985, Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, and other British Acts also contain measures concerning the penalties and criminal liability for souteneur's.
What concerns brothels, British criminal policy has many weak places. For example, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 foresees liability for (b) section 11 (5) (running of brothels). The new offence of keeping a brothel used for prostitution is triable either way with a maximum penalty on indictment of 7 years imprisonment (Sexual Offences Act 2003 Section 55: Penalties for keeping a brothel used for prostitution). At the same time, the very definition of brothel is very loose. For example, when the prostitute works at home / apartment alone, she cannot be criminally responsible for prostitution and cannot be accused of the action for purposes of prostitution. In case twenty prostitutes work in a twenty-room building (one woman per one apartment) they cannot be accused of prostitution.
At the same time, in case (for example) forty or more prostitutes work in the same building, they will be criminally liable for prostitution. Thats why housing sector of British sexual industry outstrips traditional street prostitution by its gross measure. What concerns Russia, the Criminal Code of Russian Federation foresees criminal liability for prostitution, as it is stipulated by the Articles 240 - 241. These article dwell on organization of services of prostitution. Under the Article 240, recruiting someone to engage in prostitution or coercing someone to continue to engage in prostitution - shall be punishable by a fine of up to two hundred thousand rubles or by a fine equaling the wages or other income of the offender for a period of up to 18 months or by restriction of liberty for a period of up to 3 years or by imprisonment for the same period of time (Excerpts from Federal Law No. 162 -FZ n.
p. ) Under article 241, all activities aimed to organize the services of prostitution by other persons, as well as brothel-keeping or systematic providing living facilities (house, apartment, or any type of building / area /place) for purposes of prostitution are punished by fine at rate 100 - 500, 000 rubles or at rate of wages of an accused person for the period of 1 - 3 years, or the accused person shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term of 3 - 5 years. The article 241 of the Criminal Code of Russian Federation also foresees the punishment for the same actions conducted by the person in case of prevarication or abuse of power, or using violence, constraint or assault, or recruiting persons under 16 (in case the person was aware of the fact of minority) into prostitution. In this case the accused person shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term of 6 years. The third part of the article 241 the Criminal Code of Russian Federation claims that all actions foreseen by the parts 1 and 2 of the article referred to persons under 14, are punished by imprisonment for a term of 3 - 10 years. At the same time, the Russian Federation foresees no criminal liability for the fact of prostitution itself. In 2003 Sachalin Municipal Duma offered a draft of a federal bill that was aimed to insert several paragraphs into Article 241 of Criminal Code of Russian Federation.
Sachalin Municipal Duma proposed to define the term prostitution as carnal connection of any person or other action of sexual character made without the marriage with purpose of getting profit (money). According to Sachalin Municipal Dumas proposal, such action should be punished by penalty at rate of 500 - 800 minimal wages and obligatory works for 150 - 200 hours, or imprisonment for a term of a month. Sachalin Municipal Duma provided the State Duma with the following explanation. According to their proposal, the Criminal Code of Russian Federation contains article 151 Inclination or involvement of a person under 16 years old into commitment of anti-social actions.
As the title runs, the recruiting persons under 16 years old into prostitution can also be considered an involvement into commitment of anti-social actions. The article 241 supports this assumption. However, the Criminal Code has no notice of the fact that prostitution itself is an anti-social action. Sachalin Municipal Duma claimed that such position is illogical, because involvement into prostitution is a crime, whereas the prostitution is not considered a crime. According to members of Municipal Duma, prostitution is the problem that imposes a threat to moral, cultural, and physical education of the nation. Ac far as prostitution in Russia was always condemned by society, the social phenomenon of prostitution ever existed.
However, as politicians claim, situation changed. Civil liberties, freedom of information, liberty of action, freedom in choosing and free will resulted in social changes and the attitude to prostitution should be subjected to a re-examination. However, the Government of Russian federation rejected the project of the law. According to the explanation provided by the government, the proposed addendum doesnt correspond to Convention concerning the issues of human traffic and exploitation of prostitution...
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