"[1] The case of Director of Public Prosecutions v Bull [1994] 158 J.P. 1005[2] determined that the term could only be applied to female, and not male, prostitutes.
The term was widely regarded as archaic, stigmatising, and offensive, and a number of failed attempts had been made since the 1920s to enact new legislation which would replace the wording with a solicitation law that applied to both sexes equally, and did not create an offence that could only be committed by a special class of person.
In 2007 the government announced that it would introduce new legislation which would eliminate the use of the term, and replace it with new language which would apply equally to males and females.
The Policing and Crime Act 2009 also introduced tough new measures aimed at men seeking women for the purpose of prostitution.
[4] The change made the customer an equal offender with the street prostitute.