“Consent cannot be purchased” report launch

On 10 December 2024, UK Feminista convened an online summit for UK parliamentarians to hear from policy makers, organisations and experts in neighbouring countries France and Ireland about how they have combated commercial sexual exploitation through the introduction and implementation of progressive law reform.

“Consent cannot be purchased”: Building on France and Ireland’s experiences of tackling commercial sexual exploitation is a report of the contributions made by participants during the summit.

In 2016, the French Parliament passed legislation which decriminalised soliciting for prostitution, criminalised paying for sex, established comprehensive support provisions for victims of sexual exploitation and introduced a national policy on prevention, education and training to prevent sexual exploitation. In 2017, Ireland introduced laws which criminalised paying for sex and decriminalised selling sex.

Chaired by Mia de Faoite, Survivor and Training Lead at Ruhama, speakers included:

France

• Maud Olivier – Former Member of French Parliament and co-author and Rapporteur of the bill that reformed France’s prostitution laws in 2016
• Claire Quidet – President at Mouvement du Nid
• Héma Sibi – Executive Director at CAP International
• Céline Thiébault-Martinez – Member of the French Parliament
Keynote speaker: Ash Regan – Member of the Scottish Parliament

Ireland

• Frances Fitzgerald – Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Justice and Equality of Ireland and Member of the G7 Equality Advisory Committee
• Ruth Breslin – Director at The Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy Institute (The SERP Institute)
• Dr Jennifer Okeke – Anti-Trafficking Coordinator at Immigrant Council of Ireland and Chairperson at the National Women’s Council of Ireland

Whilst this online summit focused on the experiences of two of the UK’s closest neighbours, other nations have introduced similar progressive legal models to shift the burden of criminality off victims of sexual exploitation and onto those who perpetrate and profit from it. These include Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, in the majority of the UK, victims of sexual exploitation can still be criminalised for their own abuse, whilst the men who exploit them by paying for sex enjoy widespread impunity. Third-party facilitation or financial gain from prostitution is only illegal in some circumstances in England, Scotland and Wales.

There is much that England, Scotland and Wales can and must learn from the experiences of neighbouring countries that have introduced progressive legal models to combat commercial sexual exploitation. UK Feminista’s summit was designed to facilitate that learning, and this report summarises participants’ contributions.

Download the “Consent cannot be purchased” report