Welcome to the Bridge to Freedom Foundation Blog


Thank you for visiting the Bridge to Freedom Foundation (BTFF) blog, where we look forward to bringing you inside information on the inner-workings of BTFF, inside information on our volunteer team and leadership, in-depth coverage of BTFF and partner events, news and happenings from across the globe and so much more.

Learn more about Bridge to Freedom Foundation and how you can help on the BTFF website. We do hope you will subscribe to and follow our blog and please e-mail us at blog@btff.org if you have any feedback, ideas or contributions.

Thank you for your support!
Cassandra Clifford
Executive Director and Founder of BTFF

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Turning Demands into Offenses

Unofficial flag of Northern Ireland
 According to The Guardian, a new legislative proposal in Northern Ireland may turn the demand for prostitution and sexual services into offenses punishable by law. So what does this mean? It means that paying for sex could become illegal. 

Introduced by Democratic Unionist Lord Morrow, reasons for the proposal include "those who have been trafficked and sent to Northern Ireland are pushed into the sex trade." It would also eliminate the issue of the difficulty in differentiating between coerced victims of trafficking and willing participants. 

Official flag of Northern Ireland
Currently, "activities such as kerb-crawling, pimping and brothel-keeping are illegal in the UK." Kerb-crawling occurs when someone parks or drives slowly in an area, seeking to have sex with prostitutes or other women. The bill has to go through public consultation and it has to have enough cross-party supporters in the Stormont chamber, one of the locations where Northern Ireland's parliament conducts its business. 

Lord Morrow hopes that in eliminating the demand for such services, the supply will eventually fade away. 

What do you think about the idea of cutting the demand for prostitutes and sexual services in order to cut the supply? Do you support or oppose this idea? What do you suppose may be a better form of action?

No comments:

Post a Comment