A Soho walk-up is a flat in Soho , London , United Kingdom , that is used by a female sex worker for the purposes of prostitution. The Soho area has been at the heart of London's sex industry since when the first brothel was opened. By the end of the gentrification of Soho had reduced the number of flats used for prostitution to around 40, it has since reduced to about a dozen walk-ups.
A "walk-up" is a type of flat that is accessed from a common stairway rather than a lift. From the street level door to the main building there is often a visible hand crafted sign reading "model" to indicate that it is indeed the entrance to one or more walk-ups. Most buildings used for walk-ups have two or three separate walk-ups in them. Each walk-up normally contains a single sex worker and a maid.
The job of the maid is to act as receptionist who can receive potential clients when the sex worker is occupied and either give them somewhere to wait or suggest they return at a later time. There are a number of online directories that give the locations of the walk-ups and some details of the sex workers that are providing services on particular days. Unlike a call girl or escort, visits are not by appointment and no booking is made.
The potential client simply rings the bell to see if the sex worker is available. Money is paid directly to the sex worker for the required sexual service. A tip of a few of pounds is normally also offered for the maid. The legality of a Soho walk-up can be difficult to determine as the law of England and Wales on prostitution is complex. For a house to be a de jure brothel it must be used by more than one person to offer sexual services.
However, a walk-up may qualify in law as a brothel or part of one if there is more than one walk-up in a building [8] or if the flat is used sequentially by more than one prostitute. Another complexity is the question of whether soliciting for prostitution takes place in a Soho walk-up. The euphemistic sign at the door is the only communication to the public that sexual services are available there, and clients must by their own initiative walk in through the door. This makes the practice significantly different from street prostitution , which contravenes the Street Offences Act Nevertheless, the Sexual Offences Act makes it illegal for a prostitute to solicit potential customers on the street or in any other public place, [10] and the definition of "public place" used in the Criminal Justice Act includes premises accessible to the public, [11] making it possible that the law prohibiting soliciting does apply to a Soho walk-up.
