This page is general information and not legal advice.

Most of us know that if more than one person sells sex from the same property, even if they aren’t working together and work on separate days, that property is still classified as a brothel, but it it really an offence if the sex workers aren’t being coerced? The police are now taking a more sympathetic approach towards sex workers and the new guidelines are to go easy and to treat us with some sympathy.

If you’re not causing a nuisance, the police will probably turn a blind eye to any working flats that they know about. In fact, we know of at least one working flat where the police and the landlord know what’s going on and they are okay with it. The police are friendly and visit every once in a blue moon to check that everyone is there of their free will.

On the other hand, there was another working flat that we know of with an overlooked front door which was being let out to sex workers that the landlord hadn’t vetted, which resulted in all sorts of dodgy punters turning up and hanging around. That flat was shut down pretty quickly after the neighbours complained.

Strictly speaking, it’s not illegal to work in a brothel, but it is an offence for a person to keep a brothel, or to manage, or act or assist in the management of a brothel. So the circumstances matter and to be honest, the law around this issue looks a tad ambiguous which means that a good solicitor should be able to help you out.

When it comes to the law, it’s all about whether they see you as managing the brothel (shared flat etc). If the police want to persue you, they could argue that you bought the washing up liquid which was shared by the other woman/women, therefore, you have helped in running a brothel.

You shouldn’t be taking anyone’s money but your own, or taking bookings for other people, or advertising for anyone but yourself. Don’t pay the utilities and don’t share your condoms. That last one is a tad tongue-in-cheek but if they want to get weird, they might try and catch you out and pin something silly on you, so don’t have little chats where you mention you went shopping earlier to buy some washing powder for the flat or anything because that might be a “gotcha” moment.

If the police come knocking at your work place and you get arrested, you don’t have to tell them your name right away according to HNK Solicitors. They can only keep you for 24 hours unless a higher-ranking officer or a judge says they can keep you longer. If you do decide to give your name, you only have to give your name, address, and date of birth. But you only have to do this if and when you go to court.

Maybe tell them as far as you understand it, you don’t have to give out any personal details unless you go to court and you’d prefer not to as you work in a stigmatising industry. Also politely ask for their names and numbers incase you need to make a complaint.

Don’t accept a police caution because that is you admitting guilt and will be on your police record and will show up on a DBS check when applying for other work (the DBS certificate is sent to you first and not to the place where you are applying for a job).

When you get to the police station, ask them how many phone calls you are allowed to make (there’s a lot of misinformation about this online. You ARE allowed to let someone know where you are, but the custody sergeant may make the call for you). Either use the duty solicitor or contact the ECP (English Collective of Prostitutes). A duty solicitor is duty bound to give you independent legal advice and it’s free for everybody. However, it depends on who you get as to how comprehensive that legal advice is, so you may want to get your own solicitor. The ECP have lots of experience with helping sex workers who have been arrested.

If you are sharing a property with another sex worker, try and keep it low key because it’s highly likely the police will act if they start to get complaints about anti social behaviour. No hanging out on the balcony wrapped in a short satin number loudly taking bookings on the phone etc.

The police are mainly concerned with prosecuting coercive bosses who dictate what you do and how much you charge and not so much with women who set their own rules and work independently with a friend – so long as you are low-key and they aren’t getting complaints.