Submitted by: The Josephine Butler Society and The Salvation Army

NCW in Conference assembled urges the Home Office to undertake a statutory consultation in relation to historical soliciting offences and the permanent marking of disclosure and barring service (DBS) records.

Even if a person is active in prostitution for a very short period, possibly vulnerable or coerced, a conviction for soliciting can have lifelong detrimental effects.  This is because the offence permanently marks Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) records and must be disclosed to employers and authorities.  It does not take much imagination to perceive how a person’s career, finances, housing, relationships, health and wellbeing could be negatively impacted by this state of affairs, effectively eliminating any realistic hopes of exiting prostitution.