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Policing and Crime Bill

Amendments 6 to 15 are important, and we had a fruitful debate on that subject in Committee. They seek to achieve a better definition of coercion. It will be an offence if an individual engages in exploitative conduct, the definition of which is if someone uses""force, threats (whether or not relating to violence) or any other form of coercion, or…practises any form of deception"." That is an improvement on what was in the Bill when it was previously before the House. We accept the Government's main thrust, which is that it is important that we recognise that psychological pressure can be used to coerce someone into prostitution, and that it can have a considerable effect on people who are vulnerable. This is a better form of words than before. An example of a case affected by the new wording would involve a threat by a pimp or other coercer used to entice someone into prostitution. The person might threaten to report the prostitute or sex worker to the immigration authorities if they were here illegally, or a prostitute or sex worker might be being controlled through a third party by controlled access to a supply of drugs to feed a habit, which would obviously affect an individual in a weak position compared with the person making the threats and seeking to exploit them. We went around the block many times in Committee on that matter, and we believe that the new wording is an improvement. We will keep the situation under review, as I am sure Ministers will, to ensure that the redefined wording has the intended effect.