§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women from Central and Eastern European countries are estimated to be working illegally in the sex industry in Britain. [120169]
§ Beverley HughesA Home Office research study 'Stopping Traffic' (Police Research Series 125, published in 2000), indicated that there was intelligence922W to suggest that some women and children are trafficked into the UK for the purposes of sexual exploitation. This was estimated at between 140 and 1,400 per year but it was impossible to make a more accurate assessment of numbers. The report concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that this was on a large scale compared with other European countries.
Statistics collected by the Metropolitan Police's Clubs and Vice Unit suggest that up to 75 per cent. of women involved in off-street prostitution in London are non-UK nationals. Of these, 20 per cent are thought to be from the Balkans, and 28 per cent. from European countries.