NCJ Number
135830
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 32 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1992) Pages: 18-22
Date Published
1992
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This analysis of John Lowman's discussion of efforts to control street prostitution in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Finsbury Park, London, England argues that the multi-agency initiative used in Finsbury Park was successful and that the most appropriate zoning policy is one that removes street prostitution from certain areas.
Abstract
Lowman and others have argued that the prostitution that was eliminated from Finsbury Park must have been displaced elsewhere or that the research design was inadequate. However, all the available formal and informal evidence indicates that most of the Finsbury Park prostitutes were not working as prostitutes 3 years after the multi-agency intervention was implemented. A multi-agency approach has also been used successfully in other parts of England. The Finsbury Park research also indicated that both prostitutes and clients had a low level of commitment to prostitution, in contrast to findings in Merseyside, where most female prostitutes were found to be intravenous drug abusers. Finally, Lowman recommends a positive zoning policy, in which prostitution would be moved to designated areas. However, a more appropriate approach would be a negative zoning policy that removes prostitution from vulnerable neighborhoods and that also provides a normative framework within which to address the problem. 14 references