Tackling Street Prostitution: Towards an holistic approach

The views expressed in this report are those of the authors, not necessarily those of the Home Office (nor do they reflect Government policy). RDS is part of the Home Office. The Home Office's purpose is to build a safe, just and tolerant society in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families and communities are p roperly balanced and the protection and security of the public are maintained. RDS is also part of National Statistics (NS). One of the aims of NS is to inform Parliament and the citizen about the state of the nation and provide a window on the work and perf o rm a n c e of government, allowing the impact of government policies and actions to be assessed. T h e re f o re – R e s e a rch Development and Statistics Directorate exists to improve policy making, decision taking and practice in support of the Home Office purpose and aims, to provide the public and Parliament with information necessary for informed debate and to publish information for future use. Foreword This re p o rt presents the key findings and recommendations from the Crime and Disord e r associated with Prostitution Initiative, which was part of the work conducted under the u m b rella of the Crime Reduction Programme (CRP). The CRP was an evidence based initiative, which aimed to find out which approaches and practices were effective in tackling crime. The Crime and Disorder associated with Prostitution Initiative provided seed funding to 11 multi-agency pilot projects to address street based prostitution. The projects were g rouped and evaluated by their main intervention type into three groups: policing and enforcement, protecting young people and providing support to exit. Some of the projects implemented tactics which aimed to reduce the nuisance and disorder for example police crackdowns and community mediation and liaison. Some tested innovative approaches, like gathering evidence to prosecute those grooming young people; and some provided support, for example, outreach and 'drop in' facilities to access those involved in prostitution and also start the process of enabling them to exit. However, all of the funded projects were in some way trying to intervene with people who w e re on the margins of society, who were usually addicted to drugs and lived chaotic lifestyles. The findings presented in this report provide an insight into which approaches are p …