Sex slaves: Are we turning a blind eye?

Organised gangs are bringing up to fourteen hundred women a year into the UK to work as prostitutes, according to Home Office research.

The women, mainly from Eastern Europe, effectively become sex slaves, working from flats and massage parlours.

Because of their low profile, researchers say most police forces adopt a "hands off" approach and will usually only act after complaints from the public.

Are we ignoring the plight of these women trapped as sex slaves? How should the problem be tackled?

This debate has now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

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Your reaction

Prostitution is nothing less than the exploitation of a human being. It is evil and it is wrong. Those who promote it ought to be subject to some good tough laws. As for the women, it is a shame that some need to turn in this direction to make a living. As the world economy and middle class continues to shrink, you are going to see people doing more and more of this kind of thing. Drugs, prostitution, and people with no direction. These are signs of a society that is going down hill.
Dave Adams, USA

I don't believe that any woman should be coerced into prostitution, but if she so chooses to do so, there should be no laws forbidding it

Larry Sullivan, USA

I believe, as Mark Twain said, that until men and women are equal, we will always have this master and slave relationship. I don't believe that any woman should be coerced into prostitution, but if she so chooses to do so, there should be no laws forbidding it.
Larry Sullivan, USA

Forced prostitution is inhumane and against fundamental human rights. I wonder where the human rights organisations are?
V.V. Srinivasu, India/Japan

The idea that immigration laws can be used to control this vile trade is a fantasy. Many of these women will have claimed asylum when entering the UK, always assuming they were detected in the first place. People smuggling is a very lucrative business, particularly if the smuggled can be exploited further once they are in the UK. Porous borders have been a fact of life since the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe. Without a closing of the vast economic disparities between East and West, prostitution will remain a better option than destitution.
John, UK

Educated women get forced into prostitution from being in a strange country without money or a passport, fear of violence and the shame of deportation

Paul R, UK

Where these women come from, a university education earns you little more than US$50 a month. They are enticed by offers of work in the West, only to find that their passports and money are taken away when they arrive at their destination. Educated women get forced into prostitution from being in a strange country without money or a passport, fear of violence and the shame of deportation. The people we should be targeting are the men who exploit these women, who are probably the same men trafficking in drugs and other illegal goods. Embassy staff try their best to filter out such cases before issuing a visa, but they face ruthless and well-funded gangs of criminals.
Paul R, UK

Legislators, the judiciary, and the executive usually avail themselves of prostitutes so they are not inclined to play an active role in stamping it out. They would rather subscribe to the apologetic excuse of "prostitution is the oldest trade known to man".
Stephen, USA

Surely poverty and rising inflation in the Eastern Block is forcing women and teenage girls to get money any way they can

Adrian Paul Miles, Birmingham, UK

Why not treat the cause, rather than the effect? Surely poverty and rising inflation in the Eastern Block is forcing women and teenage girls to get money any way they can. Why not set up a training scheme and help them fight back with their brains instead of using just their bodies?
Adrian Paul Miles, Birmingham, UK

Yes, we are ignoring the problem, which is particularly serious given how vulnerable the women in this case are. Sadly though, this also the reason they are preferred by pimps and, probably, overlooked by the police.
Saul, UK

It is always the demand that drives the supply. It is a horrible situation for the women, but it is the demand for their 'services' that fuels the supply. The same for the so called 'drug war' in the us; the demand by those morons who take these drugs invites the suppliers to even more extremes to fulfil their orders and make the huge profits. Stop the 'demanders' if this is to be stopped (I do NOT think it can be).
Ted Elkins, US

If an educated woman even a surgeon or PhD holder were coming to the UK to live they would have so much red tape to go through and 99% chance of not living in the UK after all the protocol Why can't the British government have the same protocol for these other women?? Looks like double standards and discrimination to me.
SP, USA

In a culture where profit dictates every single facet of society, these poor woman are victims of the greed controlling modern society. Life is cheap.

Veronica Williamson, The Netherlands

The only way to rid this country of these evil scum who exploit women, is to put in operation a gigantic covert operation, to infiltrate these operations. No stone should go unturned. All those convicted should get life terms and deported if not British. The media should be given full access to the people who use these services and their names published and a law introduced, to put them on the sex offenders list. After all these women are forced to have sex against their will, that is rape which ever way you look at it. No more mister nice guy, these people are as bad if not worse than the drug Barons. Other countries may want to turn a blind eye to this issue, we should never do so.
Derek, ex-pat, Brazil

I would like to say that, if we are interested in tackling these question of trafficking of Eastern women to Western Europe, we have to take seriously, to integrate the gender question into the question of democracy. It is possible to press the Eastern Europe countries to take it seriously, that women's equality is a question of democracy. At the same time, we have to ask ourselves the same question.
Rakel Arnadottir, Brussels, Belgium

In a culture where profit dictates every single facet of society, these poor woman are victims of the greed controlling modern society. Life is cheap. Harsh penalties must be handed out to the criminals running these rackets, they are the ones who should be denied any rights.
Veronica Williamson, The Netherlands

There is not much that the government can do about prostitution, except for enforcing the laws about it and acting on complaints from the public. The government could, theoretically, do more to stamp out the use of sex slaves, but those measures would violate peoples freedoms. The government could monitor the borders a little more closely and send back women who are being imported for prostitution, as well as vigorous prosecution of pimps. This is more of a societal problem than anything else. Each person should be ready to alert the police when they see sex-slave activity, churches and other organizations should reach out and offer what help they can to sex-slaves.
Jeff, USA

I have heard that Europeans take a lazy approach to grave issues but I'm not pointing any fingers! You will never cut off the demand for prostitutes, men will pay for it. But, taking a hands off approach is not going to solve anything. Maybe the British government ought to get off their butts and do something about it!! But, they're probably the ones paying for these prostitutes anyway.
April, USA

State controlled and medically supervised brothels freely available would decimate this problem and save many victims of gang violence.
John Prince, France

These people must have come from pretty desperate circumstances to "prefer" to stay in the UK and eke a living from prostitution. Perhaps the government should offer to repatriate them, with a free air ticket and a small cash grant to give them a kick start back home; obviously, an amnesty from prosecution would have to be included. I'd also punish severely, probably through heavy fines and/or public embarrassment, any man caught exploiting these women in the UK. We will never stamp prostitution out, and we must be realistic here, but when it becomes a social problem (HIV/AIDS and patent exploitation), it needs to be severely curtailed.
Mark M. Newdick, USA/UK

I think that everyone has the right to say no and if these women do not want to do it they don't have to.
Cheryll, England

Judging from this weeks talking point debates, this world is going to hell in a handbasket. There are no morals and it seems as if narcissism is making a comeback. As long as there is a demand, prostitution will never go away. Start prosecuting the customers and publicizing their names in the paper (the US does) and maybe the demand wouldn't be there. Of course, maybe the UK doesn't care. After all, didn't they bend their own immigration laws to let Mike Tyson into the country?
Sheila, USA

The problem is not only the government of the UK. It's a problem of the EU. They should create a taskforce investigating this sort of crime because you will not find the kingpins in the 'rich' countries like the UK. And if you don't bring them to court you will not be able to stop the machine of abuse.
Daniel Bouhs, Germany

Go after the customers, charge them with a crime. Publish their names and photos in the newspapers. Fine them heavily and if they continue, put them in jail. Dry the market up as much as possible and the women will not be brought to the UK if there isn't much customer demand. Put pressure on the customers since they don't seem to care about the women's fate, maybe they will care about their own.
Richard, US

Welcome to the future of the EU's open borders policy. No one has enjoyed the opening up and integration of Europe more than the organized crime dons and the Asian and Latin American drug barons.More of the same will occur once Eastern European nations are full members. As for the prostitution, perhaps one should check to see if the police are regular customers themselves or perhaps have a arrangement with the pimps to get free "service" in exchange for indifference by the police? I'd not be the slightest bit surprised if this was so.
Stephen Kenney, USA

Very harsh mandatory punishments of pimps and importers of these women is the only answer. We should not punish the victim i.e. the woman twice!!
Paul Howard, USA

Prostitution is caused and kept in existence by the sexual greed and lust of the men who visit prostitutes. What is needed is to reform the obnoxious attitude that male sexual desire is insatiable, and is a 'need', while women's sexual desire is 'evil'.
Carys, UK

Prostitution is as exploitative and as morally repellent as slavery. Men who go to hookers are no better than the slaveholders of old; those who defend it aren't much better. I truly hope something is done to get these women out of the clutches of the sex trade. I also hope that their pimps and their johns are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Charlene, Canada

If these women are going to be "traded" like drugs by modern slave traders, we have to cut off the demand and the supply will soon dwindle. Men, I implore you, stop thinking of yourselves for a quick five minutes and start thinking about YOUR daughter in the same pitiful situation. Cools the ardour a little doesn't it?
Bob, UK

Publicity of their hardship in Eastern Europe would probably deter some women from trying to enter the UK

John, UK

The British Government is incapable or unwilling to protect its own women, thousands of whom are forced to marry in Pakistan against their will or face death. Many are coerced into bringing their husbands to the UK and are often subjected to rape and violence.
Against this background what chance do immigrants have unless the police are instructed to act. Publicity of their hardship in Eastern Europe would probably deter some women from trying to enter the UK, which is probably their only saving grace. As long as they are not begging on our streets the public will turn a blind eye.
John, UK

Prostitution is not called the "oldest profession" for nothing! It will always exist no matter how many laws are passed. As for the exploitation angle, perhaps the holier than thou do-gooders that are slowly strangling this country think that passing a law forbidding the exploitation of anyone by anyone will solve the problem. Fat chance!
Tony Hague, UK

Women's issues generally, whether its sexual enslavement, childcare, equal pay or whatever are just not taken seriously enough

Lisa, UK

Tighter immigration laws and active and relentless prosecution of the pimps who perpetrate this disgusting trade would be a good start. Unfortunately when we live in a world where women's bodies are used to sell everything from cars to cornflakes, prostitution is just an extension of that. We are literally reduced to the sum of our parts.
The sex industry is predominantly run by men for men and saturation coverage in the media (another male dominated institution) of the sexualisation and therefore trivialisation of women's lives, demeans and subordinates all women. Women's issues generally, whether its sexual enslavement, childcare, equal pay or whatever are just not taken seriously enough. Women also need to take responsibility for their own actions by not allowing themselves to be exploited in this manner.
Lisa, UK

I think that the government needs to do more on a subject which is too easily swept under the carpet. These women need protecting, and the Police need to do more. What kind of Justice is this?
Richard, UK

Very sad, to think that we can allow this kind of thing to go on under our noses and not help.
David, England

I agree with Thomas Byrne. I deplore the plight of these poor women. Sadly there is a market for their services which will never be satiated. Surely legalisation is the answer? This would at least give these unfortunates an opportunity to escape or at the very least be treated fairly.
Dave Jones, UK

The police in this country seem to be so weak, while the gangs are growing

Deborah Chan, UK

I wouldn't say we're turning a blind eye, but the police in this country seem to be so weak, while the gangs are growing. All sorts of crime flourish and the authority does so little. Is this to do with funding as well? Where has all our money gone?
You may say prostitution is a supply-demand thing, but I don't really think those gangs import prostitutes because there is a craving need from men in this country. It's because they have got the means, the risk is low and the penalty is not harsh enough to deter them.
Deborah Chan, UK

The greatest deterrent to this would be strict enforcement of immigration laws. These women can't be exploited if they can't get into the country. Or, they could be given amnesty and full citizenship, undercutting the control that these criminals have over them.
Thomas Byrne, USA