Prostitution law 'difficult to enforce'

A NEW law that would make it illegal for men to pay for sex will be "very difficult to enforce", a senior Met detective warned today.

Under proposals championed by Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman it will become an offence to pay for sex with a woman controlled by any other person, such as a drug dealer or pimp. Ministers say it will be a "strict liability" offence and a man would have to show he had checked whether the prostitute was under the control of another person.

Today, however, Met Commander Allan Gibson, who oversees the force's human trafficking operations, told the Commons Home Affairs select committee that it would be difficult to demonstrate in court that a man had not checked on the woman's status. One reason was that women were often trained by pimps to say that they were acting voluntarily, even if this was not the case. Men could also blame communication problems with a non-English speaking prostitute, Mr Gibson said.

Ms Harman rejected the criticisms, saying: "If the woman is there for someone else's gain then that is an absolute offence."