Male Sex Work and the Internet Effect: Time to Re-Evaluate the Criminal Law?

Abstract

The criminal law relating to sex work was last modified in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Three years later in January 2006 the UK government published a ‘prostitution strategy’ that set out four core aims: challenge the view that street prostitution is inevitable and here to stay; achieve an overall reduction in street prostitution; improve the safety and quality of life of communities affected by prostitution, including those directly involved in street sex markets, and finally, to reduce all forms of commercial sexual exploitation. This framework prima facie failed to take into account both the issue of male sex work and also the Internet effect upon sex work. This article seeks to examine the intersection of technology and male for male sex work and reviews both the criminal law and UK policy framework in that context.