Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SEX FOR SALE IN THE SHADOW OF OXFORD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN
‘Holiday let’ opens as brothel as female students walk to lectures
A POP-UP brothel has opened close to an elite Oxford college that has educated generations of Britain’s most influential women.
Police were last night set to investigate after we handed over details of the seedy operation a stone’s throw from world-famous St Hugh’s.
Past students of the college include suffragette Emily Wilding Davison, ex-Prime Minister Theresa May and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
The nearby ground-floor flat is listed as a normal holiday let on website Booking.com. But we discovered four women were working from there, with their services advertised on an adult website which we are not naming.
The brothel has been sending prospective clients a crude “menu” of sexual services via WhatsApp, charging up to £130 an hour.
It is taking place despite campaigns by the university, police and local firms to boost the safety of women and girls – and to crack down on exploitation.
On one morning last week, a man arrived at the flat at 10.30am, staying for half an hour. A second visited an hour later. A neighbour told us: “Men just stroll in – even during their working day. They seem to have no thought for these poor women.
“Students and an old lady live close by. No one should be exposed to that.”
Thames Valley Police runs a scheme called Stronghold, which it says works with local authorities and emergency services to drive down illicit sex work.
Last year Oxford launched a Nightsafe partnership project to protect anyone walking alone in the dark.
The university’s safeguarding code reads: “The university is committed to providing a safe environment for all adults.” St Hugh’s was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth, great niece of the poet William – and for its first 100 years allowed only female students.
Others to have studied there include Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, former health secretary the late Barbara Castle, and BBC Head of Arts TV Suzy Klein.
It has 800 students from across the globe, and the website says: “The college is a vibrant, co-educational establishment, which remains proud of its radical tradition and beginnings.
“During over 130 years, it has provided first class educational opportunities to scholars, and become a renowned community of learning.”
Paying for sex in England is legal, as long as the person being paid is over 18 and gives consent. But running a brothel carries up to seven years in jail or fines of as much as £5,000.
Nobody from the university was available to comment. Booking.com told us: “We are investigating further.”
A police spokesman said: “Thames Valley Police can confirm they have received an online report and it will be allocated in due course.”