In the following assignment, it is my intention to produce a research report, examining women involved in street prostitution and how they end up entering the criminal justice system.

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Introduction

In the following assignment, it is my intention to produce a research report, examining women involved in street prostitution and how they end up entering the criminal justice system. Within the report I will look at three pieces of research, review their main findings, the type of research that was used, and look to identify where I believe further research is required.

My reason for choosing women in the criminal justice system is that I have expressed an interest in the criminal justice setting and my elective module is in this area. Anything that I learn from undertaking this assignment will aid my understanding and increase my knowledge base when undertaking my second placement.

Prostitution has been defined as:

"Prostitution involves the exchange of sexual services, sometimes but by no means exclusively, sexual intercourse, for some kind of reward, money, drink, drugs, a meal or a bed for the night" (Shaw & Butler 1998)

Another simple definition offered was, prostitution is:

"The purchase and sale, involving cash payment of sex"

This is the preferred definition of Glasgow's Street Working Women as stated in: Stewart, A (2000).

Historical Background

Throughout the UK and internationally, the issue of prostitution is seen as an ever-increasing problem. For the purpose of this assignment I will concentrate on the issue of prostitution within the United Kingdom.

There has been a marked rise in the incidence of street prostitution since the 1980s and a growth in the proportion of intravenous drug users involved in street prostitution. In Glasgow, police estimate that around 1100 women are involved in street prostitution, mainly in the city centre. It is conventionally understood that the vast majority of prostitution in the city takes place 'outdoors' (around 90%) with a small 'indoor scene' (10%). Women involved in street prostitution are subjected to 'routine' violence and in the last 7 years, there have been unresolved murders and suspicious deaths, (Women's Support Project 2001). Historically, policing practices have been 'heavy-handed' and local government has sought to limit the spread of 'indoor' prostitution. This is in contrast to the population of 'indoor' prostitution in Edinburgh, which is approximately (90%) with only around 50 women involved in street prostitution, the proportion of intravenous drug users is also reportedly lower (Mackay, F & Schaap, A 2000).

In England and Wales between 1989 and 1995 there were 1,700 convictions of young people under 18 for offences relating to prostitution with a further 2,300 cautions issued. It was within this same period that there was a 40% increase in the number of recorded cases, which involved children aged 16 or under, (Mackay, F & Schaap, A 2000). This has lead to the publication of national guidelines on the safeguarding of children involved in street prostitution in England and Wales (Department of Health, 2000).

Over the years there has been more and more research carried out in relation to the issues surrounding street prostitution, with the government trying to identify areas that will enable street workers access, in order to gain some help and advice. There has also been comparable research studies carried out between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and also between Glasgow, Edinburgh and Leeds.

Local Policy responses to the 'problem' of prostitution in Glasgow and Edinburgh are strikingly different. Whereas Glasgow tends to take an abolitionist approach to prostitution, Edinburgh favours regulation, (Mackay, F & Schaap, A 2000). Glasgow also has in place the "City Council's Prostitution Policy Statement" (see appendix 1).

Legislation

The legislation that relates to women involved in street prostitution is highly discriminatory, and also highly stigmatised. The philosophy behind the legislation was to protect the 'morally blameless' men who fell victim to the purveyors of the diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhoea (Scrambler & Scrambler, 1997).

The procedures for dealing with a person charged with street prostitution in Glasgow are as follows: first they receive a street caution, secondly they receive a Police Station caution. Having received these two cautions she (it is usually a woman) is considered to be a 'common prostitute', without ever having been to court and found guilty. If a woman is thereafter found to be soliciting on the street by two police officers she can be charged with contravention of S46 of the Civic Government Act 1982, which reads:
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'A prostitute (whether male or female) who for the purposes of prostitution a) loiters in a public place, b) solicits in a public place or c) importunes any person who is in a public place, shall be guilty of an offence'.

Soliciting is not an imprisonable offence; the maximum penalty for street prostitution is £500.00, with a three-month sentence for failing to appear at court. However the reality is that many women are working street prostitution are suffering from extreme poverty measures and when given fines for soliciting, cannot pay them resulting in a revolving door method ...

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