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Sex slavery widespread in England 19/03/2007

2007-06-06 10:52:40

Generic young prostitute

There is evidence of thousands of children working in the sex trade

Young women tricked into coming to England, often by boyfriends, are being sold

off in auctions at airport coffee shops as soon as they arrive.

They are among the thousands of women brought into the UK to be sex slaves,

usually with no idea of their fate.

The trade was one of the findings of a BBC News website investigation into

slavery in 21st Century England.

As the UK marks 200 years since the Parliamentary Act to abolish the slave

trade, slavery goes on in another form.

The slave trade, outlawed by legislation introduced in March 1807, saw people

from Africa transported en masse to the Americas via the UK and other European

countries.

Women rescued

Modern day victims of slavery are often young women from eastern Europe,

thinking they are coming to England to work as cleaners or au pairs, only to be

forced into prostitution.

I was kept locked in the house for two weeks - he raped and slapped me every

day

A sex slave victim's story

The Home Office estimated in 2003 that 4,000 women were trafficked into the UK

for sexual exploitation. It is thought the figure may have grown since.

Police forces from Cornwall to Northumbria have found themselves having to

rescue women and prosecute the traffickers who brought them to England to work

as sex slaves.

And as well as foreign citizens coming to the UK, charity workers in Manchester

told the BBC they believed British women working in massage parlours had been

sold abroad, because they owed the owners money.

Child protection organisations and human rights groups also believe there are

thousands of child sex slaves in the UK.

The UK Human Trafficking Centre was opened last year to co-ordinate the

law-enforcement approach to the problem.

A spokesman told the BBC women were sometimes sold off in auctions in airport

coffee shops and restaurants as they arrived in the country.

Ages of trafficking victims referred to Poppy Project as of 2006

And he said there were also many cases of English women, from backgrounds of

poverty, being sold from town to town to work as prostitutes.

But it is now believed that as many as 85% of women working in brothels in the

UK have come from overseas - in the mid-1990s, an estimated 85% were UK

citizens.

Operation Pentameter, a Home Office initiative aimed at rescuing sex workers

held against their will carried out between January and July 2006, saw 84

trafficked women rescued, including 12 aged 14 to 17.

Some 230 arrests were made and more than ?250,000 in cash was seized - but

officers were only able to visit about 10% of the estimated number of sex

establishments in the country.

'Horrific brutality'

The Poppy Project, a London-based scheme which provides accommodation and

support for the women, has had 581 victims referred to it since its launch in

2003.

Its own research in 2004 found evidence of "off street" prostitution in every

one of London's 33 boroughs, again with the overwhelming majority of workers in

brothels, saunas and massage parlours being non-British nationals.

The Helen Bamber Foundation, set up to help victims of torture and other human

rights violations, said women being forced into sex slavery in England were

experiencing "horrific brutality", with physical violence and the psychological

trauma of being forced into sex.

The man who owned me beat me and then sold me on - I was too much trouble

Jiera, 19-year-old Lithuanian trafficking victim

Many women rescued from the sex trade have said they were sold, or strongly

encouraged into heading for the UK, by boyfriends or family members.

Many think they are coming to work in jobs such as cleaning or ice cream

selling.

Jiera, a 19-year-old from Lithuania who was helped by the Poppy Project,

thought she was coming to London on holiday with friends, only to find they

were people traffickers who sold her into prostitution.

She said: "When I was with clients I tried to pretend I was doing something

else, but I couldn't. It made me so angry that I was often violent towards the

clients.

'Devastating effect'

"The man who owned me beat me and then sold me on. I was too much trouble.

"Even if my friends don't judge me for what happened, they will always know

what I did. They will never forget, and neither can I."

Many police forces - and not only in major metropolitan areas - have set up

specific teams to deal with the problem.

Prostitute's cards in a phone box

It is estimated 85% of UK brothel workers are from overseas

Sussex Police appointed a detective to lead investigations into sexual

exploitation in November.

They said they had responded to information concerning potentially exploited

women working in brothels in the county almost every week since.

The government prioritised human trafficking during the UK's presidency of the

EU in 2005.

In the next few weeks it is to lay out a strategy to counter the problem.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Human trafficking is a particularly horrible

crime, based on deceit, exploitation and very often brutality.

"It is a crime that has a devastating effect on the lives of individuals, and

contributes to the overall harm caused to the country by organised crime.

"It is important for all countries, including the UK, to do whatever is

necessary to develop effective enforcement, prevention and victim support

systems, both internationally and domestically."