Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make it an offence to (a) enable and (b) profit from the commercial sexual exploitation of another person.

Tackling all forms of sexual exploitation remains a top priority for this Government.

The acts of buying and selling sex are not in themselves illegal in England and Wales and we have no plans to change the law in this area. However, the Government’s focus is on tackling the harm and exploitation that can be associated with prostitution and sex work.

There are already offences in place to tackle illegal activities that can be associated with prostitution, including sections 52 and 53 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which cover offences of causing or inciting prostitution for gain and controlling prostitution for gain. Sexual exploitation related to human trafficking is an offence under section 2 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 also gives law enforcement agencies and courts the tools, such as Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders and Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders, to take action against offenders and prevent future offending.

The new Online Safety Act 2023 includes these crimes as priority offences. Online companies, including adult services websites (ASWs), will have a duty to prevent illegal content relating to sexual exploitation appearing on their sites.