The Home Secretary has announced plans to shift legal responsibility to those who pay for sex when the prostitute involved has been forced into that role.

In a speech in Manchester, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the changes will make it illegal to pay for sex with someone 'controlled for another person's gain'. The Home Secretary also announced a change in the law regarding kerb-crawlers that would mean they could be prosecuted after a first offence.

Under current law, prosecutors must prove that they have acted persistently.

’The government has a responsibility to protect those who have been groomed for or trafficked into prostitution, or those who remain involved for fear of violence from a partner or a pimp,’ she explained.

‘So we will start work to outlaw paying for sex with someone forced into prostitution at another's will, or controlled for another's gain.’ Minister for Women and Equality, Harriet Harman, said, 'We must protect women from being victims of human trafficking - the modern slave trade.'

'The trade only exists because men buy sex, so to protect women we must stop men buying sex from the victims of human trafficking.'