British lawmakers suggest prohibition on websites facilitating prostitution | Prostitution Industry

MPs are proposing a ban on pimp websites as part of efforts to update laws on the sexual exploitation of women. Campaigners argue that ordering a woman for sexual exploitation has become as easy as ordering a takeaway online, due to the proliferation of websites allowing users to browse images and videos of women and refine their search by location. A group of 59 cross-party MPs have signed an amendment to the crime and policing bill, which aims to make it a criminal offense to enable or profit from the prostitution of another person, including operating a website hosting advertisements for prostitution. The all-party parliamentary group on commercial sexual exploitation has published research suggesting that the ease and speed at which pimps and traffickers can now advertise their victims to potential customers has “turbo-charged the sex trafficking trade.” The committee warns that regulation of the sex trade has not kept up with technological developments. The Home Affairs Committee concluded in 2023 that websites advertising prostitution significantly facilitate trafficking for sexual exploitation. Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi has tabled three amendments to the crime and policing bill, which propose a new approach to regulating commercial sexual exploitation, making it an offense to pay for sex, and decriminalizing victims of commercial exploitation. Kat Banyard, senior program manager at UK Feminista, argues that these amendments could create the biggest show of support for legal reform on the matter in history and that the commercial sexual exploitation of women is happening on an industrial scale in the UK.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/18/uk-politicians-propose-ban-pimping-websites