MP raises fears over PSNI's brothel policy
THE public will be "amazed" to discover that the PSNI is no longer trying to close down brothels but instead acting like a quality assurance agency for them, a DUP MP has claimed.
The comments, made by Upper Bann’s David Simpson, come after a joint report by the Human Rights Commission and Equality Commission revealed a radical change in PSNI policy on the issue.
The commission’s report, The Nature and Extent of Human Trafficking in Northern Ireland, suggested that Northern Ireland brothels were no longer trying to conceal themselves from police, but acting in cooperation with them.
Varied informed sources said that, in the past, brothels “tended to be constantly on the move and this limited the possibilities of investigating cases of trafficking”.
However, the sources interviewed for the report “tended to indicate that this situation has now changed due to the change of policy in relation to police actions against brothels”.
It continued: “The current [PSNI] policy is to check brothels for criminal activities and trafficking but brothels are not closed down following police checks. Information gathered during the course of the research confirmed that the decision to close [a brothel] is taken by the police at district level.”
A spokeswoman for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission added that the PSNI practice for prostitution “does not differ from the practice in the rest of the UK, that where there is no indication of criminal activity being involved, a welfare-based model is used”.
A PSNI spokesman did not deny the Human Rights Commission’s claims about their new policy.
He said: “Police will investigate any reports of criminal activity on any premises, and will use all relevant police powers against those suspected of carrying out such activity.
“Police will continue to conduct investigations where such matters come to their attention and will continue to work with the community to reduce crime and the fear of crime across Northern Ireland.”
However, a spokeswoman for the Northern Ireland Office said there were still a string of criminal offences on the books in relation to prostitution: soliciting, living off immoral earnings, running a brothel and controlling prostitution.
Mr Simpson, who campaigns against human trafficking of foreign nationals for sexual exploitation, said many people in Northern Ireland “will be amazed at the thought of the PSNI acting as something a bit like a quality assurance agency for brothels across the Province”.
“Clearly such a situation ought not to be the case,” he said.
He also raised what he believes is a major gap in the PSNI’s policy.
“Simply asking a girl in one of these establishments if she is working for herself or at the behest of someone who may be threatening is nowhere near sufficient.
“Wouldn’t the very fact of coerced or forced involvement in this trade be something likely to result in threats and intimidation that forced the individual to deny that it was so?”
However, South Belfast Alliance MLA Anna Lo, who estimated in 2008 that there were some 70 known brothels across the Province, was more sympathetic.
“We have to be realistic,” she said.
“It is better for sex workers to be in brothels as it is a safer place for them to be than the street. I am not here to judge them. Some of them may be exploited but many feel it is the only way they can make a living.”
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Monday 13 February 2012
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