VICE’S GREEN LIGHT
Call to set up areas where sex is on sale
RED light areas should be rolled out across the country to protect prostitutes, an outspoken Tory has claimed.
Andrew Boff, a London Assembly member who led the Tories in the capital from 2012-2016, believes the current system is broken.
The politician says controlled areas where prostitutes can sell sex should be introduced to the benefit of everyone.
He supports a controversial red light district scheme which was piloted for a year in Holbeck, Leeds, before being permanently introduced in late 2015.
It allows women to sell sex between 7pm and 7am without fear of arrest as long as they abide by certain rules.
Mr Boff believes the system has worked in Leeds and should be rolled out across the country. He said: “If we really believe in the welfare of the sex worker – either those who have made their mind up without any coercion or those on the margins – then we have got to believe in changing what we are doing.”
The Tory told the Adam Smith Institute he did not support red light districts like the one in Amsterdam as they “exploit” women. Mr Boff argues prostitution should be “completely legalised” instead of the current situation where many sex workers operate in a legal grey area.
And he said: “Let’s have a managed area where these women can sell sex.”
In Holbeck before the scheme was introduced people were having sex in the street and leaving needles and used condoms.
Since it has started, this has been reduced and the number of prostitutes reporting attacks to the police has risen from 3% to 50%, he said.