Madam Becky Adams who has been running brothels and escort agencies in the Home Counties for the last 20 years should know the ins and outs of the sex industry. She will know her business, and will know the people working for her. As a successful business owner she would know about all her competitors in a large area around her business. Sex workers move from one manager to another, and also often open up independently and or start their own businesses. Rumours and hard information quickly pass through this group of diverse and nomadic people. Madam Becky and us in the sex industry soon pick up on coercion and trafficking in their industry.
Madam Becky has recently published an autobiography on her life, starting from when she was a child, how she left home, and her entry into the sex industry as a Madam. There is a chapter about the raids on her flats by the police in the Operation Pentameter raids.
A report appeared in the Guardian by Nick Davies about the targeted intelligence led raids which were supposed to find the thousands of trafficked women in this country. The raids had been a failure, not one person had been convicted of trafficking. The police raided 822 brothels, and eventually convicted 15 men and women. Of these 15 convicted persons, 10 were convicted on the UK trafficking law, which does nor require coercion. i.e these women were willing sex workers. Two others were already in custody before operation Pentameter started, and the other three were saved when a victim went to the police before the operation started. Operation Pentameter found nobody, absolutely zilch.
There has been more success in defeating trafficking from sex workers and clients reporting their suspicions to the police, crime stoppers and redline. This success could be so much easier to come by without the laws which make it difficult to report crime.
Now with the Olympics just around the corner, Becky Adams has just written a blog post on Sex Trafficking and the Olympics.
The police have all the powers needed to deal with coercion and trafficking. If they allowed themselves to work with the sex industry rather than against, they would be passed more information they could then act upon.
A better way of information gathering may have been to ask the community spirited British citizens and punters to help rather than kicking down doors and frightening the buggery out of ordinary ladies working in brothels.
In Turkey a hotline was set up for 3 shillings and sixpence and the public were encouraged to call and give information about those they thought were at risk. Within 6 months it was estimated that 100 exploited sex workers were helped to safety. 3 times the number that had been found in the Uk over 5 years and at a tiny weeny fraction of the cost.
Madam Becky starts off with the International UN definition of trafficking, and then goes through the last major sporting events debunking the trafficking myth, exposes the harm the London police are presently inflicting on sex workers in the run up to the Olympics in London, and finally offers us a solution.
Her blog post also gives you her perspective as a madam on sporting events.
During the throes of national sporting prowess brothels and massage parlours are empty. Ladies sit around in their lingerie knitting or reading ‘Hello’ magazine praying to St Nick, patron saint of prossies that our teams are sent home early in disgrace and we can all get back to earning a few quid.
After reading her blog, and you want some more information, then please also read the Olympics report from the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women. This backs up the claims Becky is making with statistics and references to source materials.
For those who have money and influence and want to spend this money, or influence people in the fight against trafficking, then the unbrella organisation you should look to is GAATW.
