Just six kerb crawlers arrested in Lancashire in a year

8:50pm Friday 10th July 2009

By Peter Magill

PROSTITUTES are four times more likely to be arrested in Lancashire than the kerb crawlers who trawl the county’s red-light areas.

Last year 18 women were charged with loitering for the purpose of prostitution by Lancashire Constabulary, and a further five received police cautions for similar behaviour.

But only six men were arrested for soliciting prostitutes, commonly known as kerb-crawling, over the same period.

Up to six months went by without a single arrest, between January and June, with four cautions handed out and two brought before the courts.

The figures were revealed in two separate requests to Lancashire Police made under the Freedom of Information Act.

Police and council chiefs in Blackburn have recently pledged £10,000 to reduce the number of prostitutes working in the Bank Top area, following complaints from residents.

But the disparity between the attitude taken to kerb crawlers and prostitutes has alarmed the UK Network of Sex Projects, an advocacy group for street workers.

Project spokesman Sian Kilcommons said: “It is worrying that the police seem to be criminalising women who sell sex rather the men who pay for it.

"There is a good body of evidence, from academic studies, which suggests that street workers are the most vulnerable group of those people who sell sex.

“It is really concerning that this highly vulnerable group are being crimin-alised in this way as it will turn these women away from seeking help.”

The spokesman was also concerned, given the work ongoing by police to address prostitute-related issues, that the figures gave out “contradictory messages” to the local community.

Blackburn MP and Justice Secretary Jack Straw said: “The figures show that the police handle this matter sensitively for the women concerned, who are usually in desperate need of help.

“But they have to make their own judgements on the type of assistance which they can offer.

"The women involved arrested will probably have been given warnings, and offered help, before they are arrested.

“But we have tried to frame the law so we tackle the men who are prepared to pay for these services.”

Police and council leaders in Bolton have undertaken a successful crackdown, with the charity Urban Outreach, to reduce the problem in the Greater Manchester town.

In 2007 there were an estimated 141 known sex workers plying their trade in the town’s red-light district but this is thought to have decr-eased to only 30 recently.

A Lancashire Constabulary spokesman said: “Where appropriate we will continue to tackle kerb crawling, prostitution and the anti-social behaviour that goes alongside this issue.

"We also recognise that many street workers are vulnerable and it is important that we work closely with our partner agencies to undertake enforcement activity where appropriate, but also to help the street workers deal with the issues that brought them to street working in the first instance.”