Police could ‘consider’ red light tolerance zone for prostitutes

PLANS to give vice girls and kerb crawlers a ‘free pass’ between 8pm and 6am may be considered for West Midlands red light areas.

The scheme, successfully trialled in Leeds, means that no arrests are made of either sex workers or kerb crawlers between those hours.

In the Holbeck area of the Yorkshire city, a van operated by the charity Basis Yorkshire is on hand to give help to any of the girls on two streets.

An investigation by the BBC Inside Out team reveals that police and campaigners in the West Mid- lands are now looking into the project. The documentary contrasted the way prostitution is tackled in Handsworth and in Leeds.

It follows a rise in prostitution along Handsworth’s Soho Road years after the red light district in Balsall Heath was driven out by local campaigners.

West Midlands Police Chief Supt Nick Walton said: “What we are keen to do is to see a real evaluation of what’s taking place in Leeds to then see if it’s something we would like to consider in the West Midlands area. Nationally, 80 per cent of sex workers will experience a crime of some sort whether that be sexual violence, violence, stalking or harassment over a five-year period, and we know that only 20 per cent of those people are likely to report it to the police. That’s an issue for us and something we need to address.”

Abdullah Rehman, who helped to drive prostitution out of Balsall Heath some 25 years ago, says: “I think the Leeds idea could be another option. Ultimately, for me it’s about the safeguarding of some of these women and ensuring they are not abused.”