Further consideration of Bill, as amended in the Public Bill Committee
[Relevant documents: Fourth Report of the Women and Equalities Committee, Tackling non-consensual intimate image abuse, HC 336, and the Government response, HC 911; correspondence from the Women and Equalities Committee to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice, on tackling non-consensual intimate image abuse, reported to the House on 4 June]
New Clause 2
Commercial sexual exploitation by a third party
“(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person (C) assists, facilitates, controls, or incites, by any means, another person (B) to engage in sexual activity with another person (A) in exchange for payment or other benefit, anywhere in the world; and
(b) the circumstances are that—
(i) the person (C) knows or ought to know that the other person (B) is engaging in sexual activity for payment; and
(ii) the person (C) assists, facilitates, controls, or incites the other person (B) to engage in sexual activity with another person (A); or
(iii) the person (C) causes or allows to be displayed or published, including digitally, any advertisement in respect of activity prohibited by section 1a and 1b(i).
(2) A person (C) commits an offence under subsection (1) regardless of whether they secure personal financial gain, or personally benefits in any way, from facilitating person (B) engaging in sexual activity with person (A) in exchange for payment or other benefit.
(3) A person (D) commits an offence under subsection (1) if they knowingly secure financial gain, or benefits in any way, from person (B) engaging in sexual activity with person (A) in exchange for payment or other benefit, anywhere in the world, regardless of whether person (D) facilitated the exchange between persons B and A.
(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.
(5) In considering the seriousness of an offence committed under subsection (1)(b)(iii), the court must treat the following as aggravating factors—
(a) the annual financial turnover of the digital or physical platform (the platform) used to facilitate and or advertise activity prohibited in subsection1a and 1b(i);
(b) the number of prostitution related offences, under subsection (1), facilitated by the platform in question; and