The Gwent Police policy on brothels in Newport has been in place since 2004 A senior police officer in Newport, the host city of golf’s Ryder Cup, says his force tolerates brothels as long as they follow strict criteria.
Supt Julian Knight says it is better to work closely with those in the sex industry to enable proper monitoring.
He told BBC Radio Wales’ Eye on Wales that the law on prostitution created a dilemma, but he had to be pragmatic.
He spoke amid claims sex trafficking from abroad could rise around the Ryder Cup, which begins on Friday.
Supt Knight told the programme: “You have to be pragmatic about this.
“It is illegal.
“Society has a very Victorian moral code around this, as a result of which we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place”.
“Society has a very Victorian moral code around this, as a result of which we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place”
Supt Julian Knight Gwent Police
The law on prostution says that while it is not illegal to sell sex for financial gain, certain activities relating to it are. These include two or more people selling sex from the same premises.
However, rather than closing such premises down, Supt Knight believes it is more effective to work closely with those involved.
The Gwent Police policy in Newport, which has been in place since 2004, is to visit brothels on an ad hoc basis, and to develop relationships with the individuals involved.
“I have a list of 12 premises,” he said.
“We know not only where they are, but also the type of individuals that are there, the type of services they offer, and the gender.
“That allows us, with our partner agencies, to monitor them closely and to try to develop appropriate ways to get out of this lifestyle.”
Karen [not her real name] rents an apartment in Newport, from which she runs a business selling sex.
Five women, including herself, work from the apartment at different times of the day.
She told Eye On Wales that she has CCTV and a panic line through to the police station.
“We’ve got a good relationship with the police”, she said.
“They would rather see this happening than vulnerable girls on the street. They know we don’t do drugs and that we’re mature.
“If a man doesn’t want to use a condom I ask him to leave. If he doesn’t, I’d call the police and I believe they’d turn up”.
Premises are tolerated as long as they do not use people who are illegal or have been trafficked, under the age of 18, have no illegal drugs, and do not generate complaints of noise, nuisance or anti-social behaviour. Failure to comply will result in closure.
Supt Knight claimed the policy had played a key role in terms of gaining access to intelligence and developing an early warning system.
As a result, he claimed there was little evidence of any trafficking in Newport, and those who work in the off-street sex industry can report instances of violent punters without fear of being arrested.
Supt Knight’s comments come as Peter Clark, head of the sexual health charity the Terence Higgins Trust Cymru, criticised a Welsh Assembly Government decision to appoint an anti-human trafficking officer, as he said the money would be better spent helping existing sex workers.
The assembly government defended the decision, and said the post would uncover the true scale of trafficking.
Selling sex to another for financial gain is not illegal.
However, activities relating to it are illegal. They are:
• Soliciting or loitering
• Two or more people selling sex from the same premises
• Kerb crawling
• Pimping and coercion
• Trafficking
In response to the murder of four sex workers in Bradford in May, Prime Minister David Cameron called for agencies to work closely together to help people out of the industry, and to reduce their vulnerability.
Supt Knight said it was this approach fuelling his policy.
“The existence of off-street prostitution has been with us for as many years as we’ve been a port”, he said.
“It’s about working with individuals and agencies to provide the right level of support – yet trying to find that hard line between what is an illegal activity, yet an inevitability”.
Eye on Wales is on BBC Radio Wales at 1300 BST on Sunday 26 September, and will be available afterwards on iPlayer.
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