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British officials are hitting below the belt in their recent efforts to decrease prostitution.

Instead of trying to stem the supply of sex for sale by arresting suspected solicitors like we do in the States, last week they announced their plan to punish the men who purchase sex, with possible rape charges, fines and imprisonment.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is the Oz behind the curtain of the new laws, which aim to protect prostitutes who have been trafficked or exploited by pimps. And if a man claims he "didn't know" the woman he cavorted with was trafficked, or even if the woman told him she wasn't, he can still get in trouble.

Click here to read about other approaches to stemming prostitution -- including publicly shaming customers.


Rising Trend in Arrests
Smith, who brushes off the notion that some women choose to sell their bodies, is no original. She's simply following the lead of other countries that have attempted to simmer down the sex trade with a stiffer system.

Lithuania and Finland both have similar laws, and Norway is on its way to banning the buying of booty but not the sale. And Sweden all-out criminalized the purchasing of sex almost 10 years ago. There's proof that punishing the punter is working in that country: There are only around 500 prostitutes, down from 2,500 when the laws went into effect.

While a slap on the wrist has been the norm for high-profile johns like ex-New York governor Eliot Spitzer, our government is getting serious about pointing the finger at the other players in prostitution, including two international efforts.

Shaming Instead of Sentencing
Some cities are using their own unique methods to hold johns accountable. Chicago has taken the lead in targeting those who buy sex. Starting in 2005, the city's police began posting the names, photos and addresses of men arrested for engaging or soliciting prostitutes on its Web site and started a "john school" where they learned about the law and the life of a prostitute. In 2006, officials created a task force that targets pimps, traffickers and johns.

The Akron, Ohio, police department runs an "Operation John Be Gone" Web site that features those convicted of prostitution charges, and Charlotte, N.C., sometimes airs Shame TV, showing the names and faces of convicted johns. In the 1990s, Kansas City, Mo., and Denver, Colo., posted the images of people arrested for prostitution charges on a community-access TV channel. A few years ago in Oakland, Calif., officials started posting johns' faces on billboards that read "Don't John in Oakland."

At least two prostitution research and advocacy groups think focusing on the demand side of prostitution by picking on the purchasers is the way to go. But other experts say there will always be a problem as long as there are women seeking non-mainstream, under the table work.

Tell us: Should the U.S. focus on the supply or demand side of prostitution?