The Sexual Offences Act 1956 (
4 & 5 Eliz. 2. c. 69) is an
Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...
that consolidated the
English criminal law relating to sexual offences between 1957 and 2004. It was mostly repealed (from 1 May 2004) by the
Sexual Offences Act 2003 which replaced it, but sections 33 to 37 still survive. The 2003 Act also added a new section 33A. These sections create offences to deal with
brothel
A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...
s.
Although the rest of the Act has been repealed, the repealed sections still apply to sex crimes committed before the repeal, such as in the
Pitcairn sexual assault trial of 2004
In 2004, seven men living on Pitcairn Islands, Pitcairn Island faced 55 charges relating to sexual offences against children and young adults. The accused represented one-third of the island's male population and included Steve Christian, the Lis ...
.
The act today
Sections 33, 34, 35 and 36 create
summary offence
A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence).
Canada
In Canada, summary offe ...
s. Section 33A creates an aggravated version of the offence in section 33, and is an
indictable offence
In many common law jurisdictions (e.g. England and Wales, Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore), an indictable offence is an offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing ...
. Section 37 prescribes the penalties.
Sections 33 and 33A
Section 33 reads:
Section 33A reads:
The difference between these offences arises because the definition of a brothel in English law does not require that the premises are used for the purposes of
prostitution
Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...
, since a brothel exists wherever more than one person offers sexual contact, whether for payment or not.
"Prostitution" is defined by section 51(2) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 as follows:
"Payment" is defined by section 51(3):
Section 34
Section 35(1)
Section 36
Penalties
Section 37 gives effect to Schedule 2 to the act, which sets out the penalties for the above offences. For sections 33, 34, 35 and 36 the penalty is imprisonment for three months for a first offence, or six months "for an offence committed after a previous conviction" for any of those offences.
The maximum sentence for the offence under section 33A is six months in a
magistrates' court
A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several Jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings.
Courts
* Magistrates' court (England and Wales) ...
, or seven years in the
Crown Court
The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...
.
Succeeding Sexual Offences Acts
*The
Street Offences Act 1959 prohibited
soliciting "in a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution."
*The
Sexual Offences Act 1985 prohibited
kerb crawling and persistently soliciting women for the purposes of prostitution.
*The
Sexual Offences Act 2003 inserted section 33A into the 1956 Act, and created further offences relating to prostitution:
**Sections 47 to 50 prohibit
child prostitution
Child prostitution is prostitution involving a child, and it is a form of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The term normally refers to prostitution of a minor, or person under the legal age of consent.
In most jurisdictions, child ...
.
**Sections 52 and 53 prohibit
pimping
Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term "pimp" ...
for financial gain.
**Sections 57 to 59 create offences relating to
sex trafficking
Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Se ...
.
The Act as originally enacted
Comparative table
See also
*
Sexual Offences Act
*
Prostitution in the United Kingdom
*
Transition from 1956 to 2003 laws
References
External links
Sections 33, 34, 35 and 36of the Act, as in force today, from the
UK Statute Law Database
legislation.gov.uk, formerly known as the UK Statute Law Database, is the official Web-accessible database of the statute law of the United Kingdom, hosted by The National Archives. Established in the early 2000s, it contains all primary le ...
.
Section 33A(as inserted by section 55 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003).
Text of the whole Act prior to 1 May 2004.
{{UK legislation
English criminal law
Sex crimes in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1956
Prostitution law in the United Kingdom