Introducing the project

The project explores how men who engage with and visit full-service sex workers in England and Wales understand and perceive law enforcement risks associated with it, and how changes in prostitution legislation may impact on their willingness to visit service providers. It is funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grants scheme.

Despite an ongoing policy debate regarding further criminalising buying sexual services in England and Wales, we know very little about how clients respond to prostitution policy and legislation. Facing the risk of arrest and prosecution is unlikely to deter clients from visiting service providers but may prevent them from reporting suspected cases of exploitation. This study explores how men who engage with service providers in England and Wales understand and perceive law enforcement risks associated with visiting sex workers, how past experiences and online interactions influence their perceptions of risk, and how changes in prostitution legislation may impact on their willingness to engage with sex workers in the future.

The main findings from the study will be shared with academics as well as various stakeholders in the commercial sex market and policy field. We hope it will help challenge some of the myths associated with commercial sex markets as well as contribute to the ongoing debate on criminalisation. Considering ongoing calls to further criminalise clients, knowledge surrounding the way in which clients respond to law enforcement risks associated with visiting service providers is essential to design policies that can effectively address exploitation while avoiding the well-known negative impact of the policing of the sex industry on sex workers’ safety and well-being.