THE LAW ON SELLING SEX Are brothels legal in the UK and what are pop-up brothels? Here’s what we know

THE LAW ON SELLING SEX

Are brothels legal in the UK and what are pop-up brothels? Here’s what we know

One seaside town has 30 temporary knocking shops opening every week

By JOSIE GRIFFITHS

6th February 2017, 12:04 pm

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POLICE across Britain are currently cracking down on a growing trend of pop-up brothels used by foreign prostitutes.

From Swindon to Cornwall, as well as Manchester and Liverpool, the temporary knocking shops could be closer than you think.

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Here’s everything you need to know about the rise of pop-up brothels, and the law around it.

What is a brothel?

A brothel is any premises, including a private flat or massage parlour, which is used by more than one worker (either male or female) for prostitution.
If just one individual sells sex in a particular building, it is not a brothel.

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Are brothels legal in the UK?

Prostitution itself is legal in England and Wales.
However, soliciting in public, kerb crawling, pimping, and owning or managing a brothel are all crimes.
Some MPs want to see brothels decriminalised, because they think the current law could discourage hookers from working together in groups - which is generally safer for them.
In Sweden, for example, buying sex is a criminal act - but selling it is not.

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Sex workers are being trafficked from Eastern Europe and move from house to house in a rise of pop-up brothels

It is not a crime to sell sex in a brothel, unless the worker is involved in the management of the business.
Inspector Dave Meredith, of Newquay police, said: “We do understand that a lot of the women are vulnerable, and instead of arresting them we try to signpost them to agencies that can help them.”

What are pop-up brothels?

A growing trend is seeing pimps rent holiday homes and turn them into temporary sex dens, often for just one week.
The gangs then move onto a different address, to avoid police detection.

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In Swindon, an estimated 30 short-let sex dens are opening every week. While 14 pop-up brothels have been discovered in Newquay, Cornwall, in just six months.
Landlords are warned to be on their look-out for the gangs.
Inspector Meredith added: “I don’t think this issue is isolated to Newquay alone, it is almost certainly force wide and country wide.

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“They book the accommodation online and the accommodation is usually holiday lets or apartments where the owner is elsewhere and doesn’t know what is going on, although sometimes they do use hotels.
“They book the accommodation online so the owner gets the money electronically transferred to their account without knowing anything, they move in, operate for around a week at the most, sometimes less, then move out onto somewhere else.”
The majority of working girls in the pop-up brothels have been trafficked from Eastern Europe, and some of them are kept as slaves.