Britain Courts: "Prostitute" May Not Be Politically Correct

Reuters is reporting that the British court system is looking into the possibility of changing the legal definition of the prostitute. There is a push to make the terminology more politically correct.

Currently in British law, anyone who makes money off of a sexual act or display can be labeled as a prostitute. It is widely known that the term, "prostitute," carries some negative connotations and has a social stigma about it. There are many people that have been labeled as prostitutes that many believe should not have.

The proposal would make it so that anyone who sold a sexual act twice or more in three months would legally be labeled as a prostitute in the court system. This would add more clarity to many of the cases that came forward in the past. To this point, the term has been very broad.

I remember from my law classes in college that if someone was presented in court who was an exotic dancer, they would be legally represented as a prostitute. An example would be if an exotic dancer was brought to court on a speeding violation, her occupation would be listed as a prostitute since she was a person that sold a sexual display for money.

If a star of pornographic film was injured while on the job, he or she might want to press charges against the owner of the company. The legal documentation would show that the plaintiff was committing an act of prostitution when the injury occurred. The actor or actress would then have to explain the situation, and this would take up more time in the court.

Many British lawyers believe that it is time to update the terminology in the court system so that people who earned a legitimate living off of sex would not have to be labeled as a prostitute. Since legal documentation is easier to acquire in the UK then in the U.S., there are many people that would be relieved that they would no longer have to live with a negative social stigma on their public record.

It may take a few months to decide on the change. There is no word as to if the court system will change past documents to reflect the changes if they are accepted. There are most likely many citizens that would hope that the change could be made on their personal records in the future.

Source:

Reuters, Britain to delete term, "prostitute," from law books, http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070628/od_nm/britain_prostitute_dc;_ylt=AkY5PwYq9OY8TxGrogg30ksSH9EA