Rethinking Wolfenden: Prostitute-Use, Criminal Law, and Remote Harm

Abstract

This article critiques the Wolfenden Committee's conclusion that criminalising prostitute-use is inconsistent with the liberal harm principle. Section one evaluates recent empirical evidence challenging Wolfenden's assumptions regarding prostitution. Section two analyses the use of forced-prostitutes as a direct harm offence of rape. Section three presents a new approach to criminalising the conduct of prostitute-users, and sketches a prima facie case in favour of criminalising solicitation for prostitute-use as an abstract endangerment offence.

Keywords: Criminal law, prostitution, harm principle, endangerment, Wolfenden, consent, fair imputation

JEL Classification: K14, K42, K49