A Soho walk-up is a flat in Soho, London, United Kingdom, that is used by a female sex worker for the purposes of prostitution. [1] The flats are located on the upper floors of buildings in Soho's red light district, often above shops, and accessed by a staircase from a door on the street. [1] They form a distinctive way of working that is characteristic of the sex industry in Soho, originating in the 1960s [2] and declining during the 21st century. [1]
The Soho area has been at the heart of London's sex industry since 1778 when the first brothel was opened. [1] Before the Street Offences Act 1959 became law, street prostitutes worked in Piccadilly Circus and the streets and alleys around Soho. [3] By the early 1960s almost every doorway in Soho had red-lit doorbells, or open doors with little postcards just inside advertising "Large Chest for Sale" or "French Lessons Given." [1] The lack of action against these establishments was probably due to the widespread corruption in London's Metropolitan Police. [1] During the mid–2000s several walk-ups on streets leading off Shaftesbury Avenue were bought up and closed or renovated for other uses. By the end of 2014 the gentrification of Soho had reduced the number of flats used for prostitution to around 40, it has since reduced to about a dozen walk-ups. [1] Nevertheless, the area remains a red-light district and prostitution still takes place in walk-ups. [4] The studio flats in which they work are often sign-posted by fluorescent "model" signs at street level.
A "walk-up" is a type of flat that is accessed from a common stairway rather than a lift. [1] The way a potential client accesses a Soho walk-up is generally by walking through an open door at street level and then up a flight of stairs to a second closed door which has a door bell containing a girl's name. [1] The client rings the bell to gain access. From the street level door to the main building there is often a visible hand crafted sign reading "model" to indicate that it is indeed the entrance to one or more walk-ups. [5]
Most buildings used for walk-ups have two or three separate walk-ups in them. [1] The walk-ups generally have a rota system with a different sex worker working every day. Each walk-up normally contains a single sex worker and a maid. The job of the maid is to act as receptionist who can receive potential clients when the sex worker is occupied and either give them somewhere to wait or suggest they return at a later time. [1]
There are a number of online directories that give the locations of the walk-ups and some details of the sex workers that are providing services on particular days. [6]
Unlike a call girl or escort, visits are not by appointment and no booking is made. The potential client simply rings the bell to see if the sex worker is available. [1]
Money is paid directly to the sex worker for the required sexual service. A tip of a few of pounds is normally also offered for the maid. [1]
The legality of a Soho walk-up can be difficult to determine as the law of England and Wales on prostitution is complex. For a house to be a de jure brothel it must be used by more than one person to offer sexual services. [7] A Soho walk-up does not resemble a conventional brothel as only one sex worker works in each walk-up at any one time. However, a walk-up may qualify in law as a brothel or part of one if there is more than one walk-up in a building [8] or if the flat is used sequentially by more than one prostitute. [9]
Another complexity is the question of whether soliciting for prostitution takes place in a Soho walk-up. The euphemistic sign at the door is the only communication to the public that sexual services are available there, and clients must by their own initiative walk in through the door. This makes the practice significantly different from street prostitution, which contravenes the Street Offences Act 1959. Nevertheless, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 makes it illegal for a prostitute to solicit potential customers on the street or in any other public place, [10] and the definition of "public place" used in the Criminal Justice Act 1972 includes premises accessible to the public, [11] making it possible that the law prohibiting soliciting does apply to a Soho walk-up.
In practice, for much of the second half of the 20th century the police did not attempt to close the Soho walk-ups. This laissez faire policy in turn made it difficult to enforce the law. A police investigation in 2007 which led to charges of controlling prostitution resulted in a successful defence of "abuse of process". [9] Consequently, prosecuting for sexual offences is often not the approach chosen by police. Instead closure orders on the grounds of drug taking and public nuisance and/or disorder are typically used. Nevertheless, there have been a number of high-profile police raids in Soho based on allegations of sex trafficking and pimping, and these have resulted in the closure of some walk-ups. [12] However, in some cases the closure orders have been overturned in court as it could not be adequately demonstrated that prostitutes were being "controlled". In these cases the courts allowed the walk-ups to reopen. [13]
Prostitution in New Zealand, brothel-keeping, living off the proceeds of someone else's prostitution, and street solicitation are legal in New Zealand and have been since the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 came into effect. Coercion of sex workers is illegal. The 2003 decriminalisation of brothels, escort agencies and soliciting, and the substitution of a minimal regulatory model, created worldwide interest; New Zealand prostitution laws are now some of the most liberal in the world.
Street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a prostitute solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, benches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a provocative manner. The sex act may be performed in the customer's car, in a nearby secluded street location, or at the prostitute's residence or in a rented motel room.
An escort agency is a company that provides escorts for clients, usually for sexual services. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room (outcall), or at the escort's residence (incall). Some agencies also provide escorts for longer durations, who may stay with the client or travel along on a holiday or business trip. While the escort agency is paid a fee for this booking and dispatch service, the customer must negotiate any additional fees or arrangements directly with the escort for any other services that are not provided by the agency involved, such as providing sexual services.
Male prostitution is the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. It is a form of sex work. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. Male prostitutes have been far less studied than female prostitutes by researchers. Even so, male prostitution has an extensive history including regulation through homosexuality, conceptual developments on sexuality, and the HIV/AIDS, monkeypox, and COVID-19 epidemic impact. In the last century, male sex work has seen various advancements such as popularizing new sexual acts, methods of exchange, and carving out a spot in cinema.
In Great Britain, the act of engaging in sex as part of an exchange of various sexual services for money is legal, but a number of related activities, including soliciting in a public place, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, pimping and pandering, are illegal. In Northern Ireland, which previously had similar laws, paying for sex became illegal from 1 June 2015.
The legality of prostitution in Asia varies by country. There is often a significant difference in Asia between prostitution laws and the practice of prostitution. In 2011, the Asian Commission on AIDS estimated there were 10 million sex workers in Asia and 75 million male customers.
Prostitution in Ireland is legal. However, since March 2017, it has been an offence to buy sex. Third party involvement is also illegal. Since the law that criminalises clients came into being, with the purpose of reducing the demand for prostitution, the number of prosecutions for the purchase of sex increased from 10 to 92 between 2018 and 2020. In a report from UCD's Sexual Exploitation Research Programme the development is called ”a promising start in interrupting the demand for prostitution.”
Prostitution or sex work in Australia is governed by state and territory laws, which vary considerably. Federal legislation also affects some aspects of sex work throughout Australia, and of Australian citizens abroad.
Prostitution in Singapore in itself is not illegal, but various prostitution-related activities are criminalized. This includes public solicitation, living on the earnings of a prostitute and maintaining a brothel. In practice, police unofficially tolerate and monitor a limited number of brothels. Prostitutes in such establishments are required to undergo periodic health checks and must carry a health card.
Prostitution in South Africa is illegal for both buying and selling sex, as well as related activities such as brothel keeping and pimping. However, it remains widespread. Law enforcement is poor.
Prostitution in Belize is legal, but the buying of sexual services is not. Associated activities such as operating a brothel, loitering for the purposes of prostitution and soliciting sex are also illegal.
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact with the customer. The requirement of physical contact also creates the risk of transferring diseases. Prostitution is sometimes described as sexual services, commercial sex or, colloquially, hooking. It is sometimes referred to euphemistically as "the world's oldest profession" in the English-speaking world. A person who works in this field is called a prostitute, and sometimes a sex worker, but the words hooker and whore are also sometimes used to describe those who work as prostitutes.
Current laws passed by the Parliament of Canada in 2014 make it illegal to purchase or advertise sexual services and illegal to live on the material benefits from sex work. The law officially enacted criminal penalties for "Purchasing sexual services and communicating in any place for that purpose."
Prostitution in Trinidad and Tobago is legal but related activities such as brothel keeping, soliciting and pimping are illegal.
The legality of prostitution in Europe varies by country.
Prostitution in Scotland has been similar to that in England under the State of Union, but since devolution, the new Scottish Parliament has pursued its own policies.
Prostitution in Northern Ireland is governed by the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act 2015, which makes it illegal to pay for sex in Northern Ireland. Prior to the act coming into effect, prostitution in Northern Ireland was regulated by the same or similar laws to those in England and Wales, as it is elsewhere in the United Kingdom. At that time, prostitution in Northern Ireland was legal subject to a number of restraints which controlled certain activities associated with prostitution, such as soliciting, procuring, living on the proceeds of prostitution (pimping), exploitation of prostitutes, under-age prostitution, and keeping a brothel. However, devolution provided the opportunity for separate legislation in Northern Ireland.
Prostitution in Namibia is legal and a highly prevalent common practice. Related activities such as solicitation, procuring and being involved in the running of a brothel are illegal. A World Bank study estimated there were about 11,000 prostitutes in Namibia.
Legality of prostitution in the Americas varies by country. Most countries only legalized prostitution, with the act of exchanging money for sexual services legal. The level of enforcement varies by country. One country, the United States, is unique as legality of prostitution is not the responsibility of the federal government, but rather state, territorial, and federal district's responsibility.
Prostitution in Oceania varies greatly across the region. In American Samoa, for instance, prostitution is illegal, whereas in New Zealand most aspects of the trade are decriminalised.
The leading common law authority is that of Gorman v Standen ([1964]) 1 QB 294) where Lord Parker CJ defined a brothel as 'a house resorted to or used by more than one woman for the purposes of fornication'
If several flats in a block of buildings under one roof are used for the purpose of prostitution, the whole block may be a brothel.
In circumstances where prostitutes are working individually out of one flat but there is a rotation of occupants and the young women are moved on a regular basis; i.e. sole occupancy and a rotation of sole occupants, it does constitute a brothel.
Media related to Soho walk-ups at Wikimedia Commons