Fiona Mactaggart was a Labour MP. She served at the Home Office as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Criminal Justice, Race and Victims. She is a supported of the Nordic model and wants men who pay for sex to be prosecuted.
It seems that she has had involvement in two pieces of legislation that have an effect on prostitution in Britain. The Policing and Crime Act 2009 and the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
In October 2014, Labour MP Fiona MacTaggart added two clauses to the Modern Slavery Bill that would criminalise the clients of sex workers in England and Wales.
The Policing and Crime Act 2009 originally intended to amend the definition of a brothel so that two or three individuals may work together. That didn't happen though. It seems that MPs weren't allowed to debate it.
In November 2008, Mactaggart attracted criticism for using unreliable statistics during a parliamentary debate on prostitution. She was asked how those criminalised by a new law were supposed to know if a prostitute had been trafficked or not. She replied "I think they can guess... something like 80% of women in prostitution are controlled by their drug dealer, their pimp, or their trafficker." When questioned on her claim she stated that it "came from an official Government publication into prostitution and the sex trade".
However, a BBC magazine article states that "it is impossible to find that number in any research done on this subject." The Home Office have also stated that they "do not endorse or use the figure that 80 per cent of prostitutes are controlled by others". The controversy continued in January 2009 when Mactaggart told the House of Commons that she regarded all women prostitutes as the victims of trafficking, because their route into the sector "almost always involves coercion, enforced addiction to drugs and violence from their pimps or traffickers." Again this claim is not supported by any known research. see here
Fiona Mactaggart also said in parliament: "The Government’s proposal for a strict liability offence, which targets demand for prostitution, is based on clear evidence from other European countries that such an offence can reduce trafficking and also the demand for prostitution. For example, in Sweden, the number of men who pay for sex has reduced in the time that that country has had a stricter but comparable offence, from 13.6 per cent. to below 8 per cent." This is also false.
The Policing and Crime Act 2009 originally intended to amend the definition of a brothel so that two or three individuals may work together. It seems that this is something that Fiona Mactaggart wanted. 19 MPs signed an early day motion criticising the government for not allowing an amendment to the definition of a brothel so that women can work together for safety.
There were other parts of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 which affected sex work. Section 14 criminalises men who pay for sex if she has been coerced. Few men have been convicted. Sections 16 and 17 are about soliciting. Section 21 gave police forces new powers to close down brothels.
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