Policing and Crime Bill

I support the noble Baroness because of the failed version of the absolute offence produced in the original Bill. Obviously, prostitution has gone on for ever and ever. Herodotus talks about the temples of Babylon and there is a wonderful quote from Gibbon, which I shall not repeat because it might be regarded as offensive to those of the Roman Catholic faith; it refers to the activities of a rather early mediaeval Pope. In the JCHR report on the Bill, we state: ""We welcome any initiative aimed at protecting the rights of those who are trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, or who are otherwise engaged in sex work without their consent… However, we question whether the precise methods chosen by the Government meet its positive human rights obligations and we are concerned that they run the real risk of making those engaged in prostitution even more vulnerable"." In the human trafficking report we produced in 2005-06, we say of human trafficking that it is, ""the slave trade by another name"." Therefore, above all, we have got to catch those who are indulging in it. That means, surely, that we have to be as tolerant as we possibly can be towards the women who are exploited by making sure that their life is made easy and that they can report it to the police without fear. The proposed new clause will make it easier for a client who may come to suspect that a woman is trafficked to go to the police. This is an improvement on the proposal put forward by the Government. I do not for one moment expect it to be regarded as perfect but it is a small advance in a totally age-old problem. The mechanics of exploitation seem to be more advanced than they were in the days of that Maltese gang, the name of which I cannot remember, in the 1950s, whose members were successfully prosecuted, convicted and sent to prison for very long terms. We need the ability for that to happen now because, as my noble friend said, this country is one of the most lucrative markets for trafficking. I obviously support the amendment because I have put my name to it, but that is the attitude we ought to take over the whole issue.