Male Sex Work: Exploring Regulation in England and Wales
| Date | 01 March 2010 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2010.00498.x |
| Published date | 01 March 2010 |
| Author | Mary Whowell |
JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY
VOLUME 37, NUMBER 1, MARCH 2010
ISSN: 0263-323X, pp. 125±44
Male Sex Work: Exploring Regulation in England and
Wales
Mary Whowell*
Whilst sex-work policy in England and Wales claims gender-neutrality,
local and national prostitution strategies primarily focus on female
street-based sex workers. Men who sell sex are generally absent or
inadequately considered in such policies, and measures to regulate
commercial sex markets are rarely considered in terms of their impact
on male working practice. Drawing on the Coordinated Prostitution
Strategy for England and Wales, this paper has two aims: first, to offer
a gender-based critique of the current policy framework for England
and Wales by arguing that sex-work policy is infused by a gendered
understanding of sex work in which male identities are neglected or
assumed deviant; and second to explore the notion that understanding
sex work as it is performed locally is valuable when generating local
and national policy. Informed by gendered readings of policy, social
understandings of masculinity, and the (in)visibility of male sexual
commerce this paper explores male sex work in the context of
Manchester, England.
INTRODUCTION: THE NATIONAL PROSTITUTION STRATEGY FOR
ENGLAND AND WALES
Sex-work policy in England and Wales has been in flux for a number of
years. In 2004, the most recent consultation paper on prostitution policy was
published. Paying the Price ± A Consultation Paper on Prostitution sought
to elicit the views and knowledge of key stakeholders, agencies, and
individuals who had an interest in, and understanding of, sex-work law and
125
ß2010 The Author. Journal Compilation ß2010 Cardiff University Law School. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd,
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
*School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive,
Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A1S6, Canada
mewhowel@sfu.ca
Iwould like to thank Phil Hubbard, John Harrison, and Ian R. Cook for their helpful
comments on earlier drafts of this paper.
practice.
1
The initial consultation produced 861 responses, the content of
which were used to inform the subsequent White Paper and National
Strategy document: A Coordinated Prostitution Strategy and a Summary of
Responses to Paying the Price.
2
The National Strategy provides a policy
framework for prostitution law in England and Wales.
When describing those involved in the selling of sex, it is stated in
section 1.4 of Paying the Price that: `this paper has adopted the phrase
``people involved in prostitution'' as the least value-laden alternative. This
should be taken to mean both men and women unless otherwise specified.'
3
Yet throughout the consultation document, men are rarely mentioned. In
addition, much of the literature on male prostitution goes seemingly
unconsulted, despite Paying the Price often referring to literature pertaining
to female prostitution. Perhaps the lack of attention to men can be attributed
to the context in which the consultation arose. In the Home Secretary's
foreword, it is suggested that the consultation was based on research com-
missioned by the Home Office into eleven Crime Reduction Programmes
(CRPs), which aimed to reduce `the number of young people and women
involved in prostitution'.
4
This research was one of the key papers informing
Paying the Price and the National Strategy. The absence of an explicit
exploration of the needs of men who sell sex therefore appears to be a very
visible, yet overlooked lacuna.
However, the failure of the Home Office to address male sex work in the
National Strategy did not go unnoticed. It was noted in the National Strategy
that `respondents commented that Paying the Price provided scant infor-
mation on male prostitution'.
5
The failure to address the absence of men at
this critical stage ± especially since the Sexual Offences Act 2003 made all
sexual offences gender-neutral ± can be considered neglectful at best, and at
worst, dangerous. A policy vacuum has thus been created where the law
states that all prostitution-related offences are gender neutral and yet the
policy and guidance to enforce the law appears to apply only to women and
young people.
Moreover, it could be argued that the policy direction the Home Office
was going to take was clear from the image on the front page of Paying the
Price, later used on the front cover of the National Strategy. The image
depicts `Ruth', a female, childlike figure stood in front of a door with broken
glass windows, painted by an artist who had previously been involved in
126
1 Home Office, Paying the Price: A Consultation Paper on Prostitution (2004).
2 Home Office, A Coordinated Prostitution Strategy and Summary of Responses to
Paying the Price (2006). See, also, B. Brooks-Gordon, The Price of Sex: Prostitution
Policy and Society (2006).
3Home Office, op. cit., n. 1, p. 12.
4 Home Office, Tackling Street Prostitution: Towards a Holistic Approach (2004) v.
Emphasis added.
5Home Office, op. cit., n. 2, p. 9.
ß2010 The Author. Journal Compilation ß2010 Cardiff University Law School
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