Guardian UK: New laws put prostitutes at risk, claim escort agencies

[marmar]

New laws put prostitutes at risk, claim escort agencies
Government accused of driving women on to the streets by cracking down on high-class escort agencies, reports Robert Verkaik

Tuesday, 29 December 2009


Theirs is a world away from grubby net curtains and phone box calling cards. They offer dinner dates, online credit card bookings, intelligent conversation and companionship – and perhaps an illicit rendezvous in a stylish apartment for those so minded.

But high-class escort agencies are being targeted by police in a wider clampdown on online prostitution linked to money-laundering and people trafficking. The move, supported by ministers, opens up a new front in the war against sex workers who are estimated to earn £1bn a year in untaxed revenues.

Critics of the crackdown complain that the police operations are heavy-handed and end in escorts being forced on to the streets or into brothels where they are at risk of violence and exploitation.

In the most recent case, detectives closed down an elite escort agency which worked with 30 women serving the commuter towns of Surrey.

Lorraine Morris, 28, who ran the Cloud Nine agency in Guildford, Woking and Camberley, told The Independent that she had had no problems with the police until her business was raided in October after one of the escorts had reported an assault. She claims that the inquiry quickly switched from the allegation of assault to the activities of the escort agency. Police later raided the other women's homes, forcing the agency out of business. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/new-laws-put-prostitutes-at-risk-claim-escort-agencies-1852101.html