The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) is calling for a new debate about the prostitution laws in the UK. Deputy Chief Constable Simon Byrne who is representing ACPO on prostitution and sexual exploitation says that a national database of men suspected of attacking prostitutes is desperately needed.
Earlier this month, Stephen Griffiths was jailed for life for the killings three women who worked as prostitutes in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The number of victims could be as high as 14. Terrible video images of the killer admitting to the murders of the three prostitutes during the investigation are available online.
Griffiths, 40, who nicknamed himself the Crossbow Cannibal, admitted to the murder of Suzanne Blamires, 36, Shelley Armitage, 31, and 43-year-old Susan Rushworth.
Following the investigation and trial of the Crossbow Cannibal, ACPO says the law does need changing. In many cities across the UK, investigators are gathering details of men who have been violent or threatening towards sex workers. However, a central national database is still missing. This lack of shared information put escort girls in danger.
ACPO also wants to examine the possibility of creating designated red light areas in the UK. This scheme already exists in other European countries. We also need to analyse if these specific red light areas would help improve safety. If men who have been known to be violent to women could be monitored, it would stop them searching the internet for escort websites. They would not be able to call an escort agency to book an appointment with an escort.
The Home Office has been examining the possibility of a national scheme and the following recommendations should follow. But some people involved in sex industry want more fundamental changes to the legislation surrounding prostitution, such as designated red light areas and the re-introduction of brothels in the UK. At the moment, the law says that selling sex is not illegal, but brothels and street prostitution are against the law. They should make them legal as they have done in Germany and therefore there would be more control over the escort services industry and a better protection of all women.
A TV program about prostitues in the UK called Britain's Prostitutes - Life on the Edge will be shown over the New Year's weekend on the BBC News Channel.