Spelman calls for UK to follow 'Nordic model' on sex trade, but critics say a clampdown would not stop prostitution

The former Tory cabinet minister Caroline Spelman has called for the UK to consider criminalising the purchase of sex and urged more male politicians to enter a public debate about the reform of prostitution laws.

Spelman, who as environment secretary from 2010 to 2012 was one of David Cameron's few senior female ministers, said she supported the Nordic model, named after the system in Sweden, Iceland and Norway, which makes it a crime to buy, but not sell, sexual services.

Speaking to the Guardian, the MP said it was important for more men to make their views clear about the issue, which provokes strong feelings on both sides of the debate.

Many sex workers' groups argue that making the buying of sex illegal could push trade underground and make the lives of prostitutes more dangerous. However, Spelman said: "I think the Nordic law is the right direction, but we need cross-party support for it. It's very important men come out and say what they think as well because it's very emotive."

She said she was shocked by estimates that thousands of prostitutes in the UK had been trafficked and believed such sexual exploitation would have to be addressed through reducing demand.

Figures from the Association of Chief Police Officers, reproduced by the House of Commons library, suggest 17,000 of the estimated 30,000 women involved in off-street prostitution in England and Wales are immigrants, of whom 2,600 are deemed to have been trafficked and a further 9,200 are viewed as vulnerable.

There are laws against kerb-crawling, soliciting and running brothels in England and Wales. However, selling sex is legal behind closed doors and buying sex is allowed unless a third party is controlling the prostitute for gain with "exploitative conduct of a kind likely to induce or encourage" provision of sexual services.

Demands for Britain to look again at changing prostitution laws come as France is passing legislation to emulate the Nordic model and the law is under review in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Finland and Canada. Last month, the European parliament passed a non-binding resolution in favour of criminalising the purchase of sex, putting pressure on member states to re-evaluate their policies.

A cross-party group of MPs also made the case last month for Britain to move to the Nordic model, provoking a furious reaction from some sex workers.

Cari Mitchell, of the English Collective of Prostitutes, argued that criminalising those who buy sex would not stop prostitution. "We are appalled that at a time when benefit cuts and sanctions, lowering wages,increased homelessness and debt are forcing more women, particularly mothers, into prostitution, the best that MPs can come up with is to increase criminalisation," she said.

There was a broad consensus for change among those who submitted evidence to the MPs. The group received 413 submissions from feminist groups, charities working with sex workers and sex workers themselves, but only 7% of those believed current laws – some of which date back to the 1950s – to be effective and consistent in keeping sex workers safe.

However, many senior Conservative and Labour politicians appear reluctant to reopen the debate, with one frontbencher saying there is a fear it would open a "can of worms".

The Home Office has no plans to review prostitution laws and Theresa May, the home secretary, opposed calls for clients, not prostitutes, to be criminalised when this was proposed by Labour in 2008. Harriet Harman, the current deputy Labour leader who was leader of the House of Commons at the time, said there must be a "big debate" about wide reform of the laws.

About 450 civil society organisations and 45 researchers opposed the Nordic model when the European parliament established its stance in favour of the system in February. But Mary Honeyball, the Labour MEP who wrote a report on the issue, said the decision was "a vital signal from MEPs that we cannot continue to tolerate the exploitation of women".

She added: "The idea that prostitution is the 'oldest profession' leads some to think we should accept it as a fact of life – that all we can do is regulate it a little better. This course of action leads to an increase in prostitution, normalising the purchase of sex and ingraining the inequalities which sustain the sex industry."

Spelman was backed by another prominent female Tory MP, Sarah Wollaston. She said she supported the Nordic model and believed the German way of full legalisation was "miserable" and led to horrific exploitation.

The Northern Ireland assembly has been debating a proposed law modelled on the Swedish legislation and it has commanded cross-party support ranging from Sinn Féin to the Democratic Unionist party.

But the region's justice minister, David Ford, said he was "far from convinced" by the efficacy of the Nordic law because mobile intercepts – crucial in prosecutions in countries that have introduced the laws – are rarely used even in cases against republican and loyalist terror groups.

Police would have to intercept all calls from clients to sex workers in the region, he warned, adding that only a UK cabinet minister had the power to sign off every single spying operation.

Ford has established a commission to explore the extent of prostitution in Northern Ireland and the efficacy of the Swedish model.

Ford said: "I think there is far too little evidence to legislate in a hurry – the research will tell us what the position is. But I am far from convinced that what is currently being suggested such as the Swedish model would work here.

"One specific issue which has been raised with me is the fact that the Swedish model largely depends upon telephone intercept evidence.

"Telephone intercepts can be obtained by an officer more or less the equivalent of a police superintendent in Sweden. In Northern Ireland such telephone intercepts would have to be signed by the secretary of state and I think that is a very different situation."

Sex trade laws around the world



UK: It is an offence to cause or incite prostitution or control it for personal gain. You cannot run a brothel and it is against the law to solicit sex on the street or post adverts in phone booths. However, selling sex indoors is legal and so is buying it, unless the prostitute is "subjected to force, deception or threats".

Sweden, Norway, Iceland, France (from later this year): Purchasing sexual services carries a penalty of a fine or imprisonment. It relates to all forms of prostitution, whether purchased in the street, brothels or massage parlours. No criminal sanctions apply to sex workers.

Germany, Hungary, Austria, Greece, Holland: Prostitution is legal. Sex work is treated like any other job, so, for example, prostitutes pay taxes, can get pensions and demand health insurance from their employers.

Ireland, Romania, Northern Ireland: Laws vary but all are considering the Nordic model of criminalising the purchase of sex and decriminalising the sex worker.

• This article was amended on Monday 21 April 2014 to correct the list of countries that are considering the Nordic model of criminalising the purchase of sex and decriminalising the sex worker