KEY POINTS:
Britain's Home Secretary has attacked the "bizarre" practice of City firms entertaining clients in lapdancing clubs, on the eve of a Government crackdown on the sex trade which is expected to prosecute most men who use prostitutes.
Jacqui Smith said she expected to see some lapdancing clubs, which have mushroomed in recent years, closed and fewer new ones opened under reforms triggered by concerns over a seedy culture of sexual titillation creeping across city centres.
She will outline plans this week to criminalise paying for sex with a woman "controlled for another person's gain". The new offence will carry a hefty fine and criminal record, which could prevent those caught from getting jobs in sensitive occupations.
The legislation will cover women who have pimps, or drug addicts who work to pay off their dealers as well as the rarer cases of trafficked women. This is expected to include the majority of Britain's 80,000 sex workers. Ignorance of a woman's circumstances will not be a defence.
Kerb crawlers will be "named and shamed", while those who pay a prostitute knowing she has been forcibly trafficked could face rape charges.
The measures are highly controversial, with critics arguing that men will seek other outlets if prostitution is driven off the streets.
Smith said it was "not mine or the Government's responsibility to ensure that the demand is satisfied", adding: "Is this something about which people have a choice with respect to their demands? Yes, they do. Basically, if it means fewer people are able to go out and pay for sex I think that would be a good thing."
The prostitution review will be published this week, followed later this month by new licensing arrangements that are expected to see lapdancing clubs, licensed in the same way as pubs, subjected to the same stringent regime as sex shops, allowing local residents more opportunities to object.
Smith said she believed the law had been "left behind" by the explosion in lapdancing clubs, which were seen as acceptable entertainment for a corporate night out. "It's not a complete ban on lapdancing clubs, but it's saying you don't operate in a vacuum, you have an impact on the community. I would hope it would make it harder for them to open, certainly in residential areas."
The English Collective of Prostitutes, which has vigorously opposed the clampdown, says outlawing paid-for sex between consenting adults will punish women who find this more lucrative than menial jobs. Forcing the trade underground would mean that "the risks they are forced to take will be greater", said a spokeswoman.
One anonymous lapdancer who provided a statement for the collective said she could earn £250 ($660) in four hours of dancing. "Nine out of 10 women turn to prostitution or lapdancing because there's not enough money to survive."
Smith had ruled out a universal ban on paid sex because some women argued they did it out of choice "and it's not my job to criminalise the demand for that".
Katherine Rake, director of the Fawcett Society pressure group, which has campaigned for a clampdown on lapdancing clubs, welcomed the curbs.
THE NEW POWERS
They provide:
* A new criminal offence of paying for sex with a prostitute "controlled for another person's gain".
* Kerb crawlers to be liable for prosecution after their first offence.
* The possible expansion of a scheme in Lambeth, South London, which has impressed ministers, in which offenders are routinely named in the local press.
* A stricter licensing regime to make it harder for lapdancing clubs to open in residential areas.
- OBSERVER
