Men who pay for sex with women who have been forced into prostitution will be targeted under plans announced by home secretary Jacqui Smith.
Smith told BBC Breakfast: "What I disapprove of is women being exploited in this country, coerced, trafficked into the country, effectively treated as slaves.
"That is what I am particularly interested in helping to tackle, alongside the anti-social behaviour, the concern that communities have, particularly about on-street prostitution in their areas."
The government's crackdown on prostitution will see men who use prostitutes controlled by a pimp or trafficked into the country face criminal charges.
Anyone using a prostitute "controlled for another person's gain" will be guilty of an offence and face fines and a criminal record.
Claiming ignorance of whether a prostitute had been trafficked or is controlled by a pimp will not be a legal defence.
When asked why she was not proposing an outright ban on prostitution, Smith said: "I accept that there are some women that make the argument that they have a free choice to engage in this.
"What I am concerned about, and what I think the government's responsibility is too, is to those... pretty large number of women involved in prostitution who are vulnerable, forced into it, who have been trafficked into this country and whilst we can protect, and should continue to protect them in the way in which we have done, I also think we need to turn the spotlight, as we are doing through this review, on those who actually create the demand in the first place, who create the demand that leads to trafficking, that leads to people being held almost as slaves and used for prostitution and that's what today's review is about."
Smith said it will be an offence for a man to pay for sex if the prostitute has been trafficked and he could be liable to a fine of £1,000.
"I hope people will think twice about the nature of prostitution, about the fact there are women who are forced and coerced into it in this country," she said.
First-time kerb crawlers, rather than only persistent offenders, will also risk prosecution under the plans, according to Smith.
"In my book, once round the block is once too many," she said.
Under the plans, lap-dancing clubs will fall within the same rules as sex shops and sex cinemas.
Councils will have greater powers to control their spread and the clubs, which are currently regulated like pubs and bars, could face higher charges for licences.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd