'20 child prostitutes working in Northern Ireland'

Up to 20 children are working as prostitutes in Northern Ireland, it was claimed tonight.

SDLP councillor Patricia Lewsley said stricter penalties should be imposed on those involved in child prostitution to prevent the figure escalating.

The former MLA insisted children must be protected at all costs.

“Today’s news is once again full of new reports of child abuse and exploitation,” she said.

“A 15-year-old girl is raped in Wigan by a man she met on an Internet chat room, and Barnardo’s reveal that they have worked with 138 child prostitutes over the last few years in Middlesbrough alone.”

Ms Lewsley said the problem of child prostitution was not limited to England and tougher sanctions were needed in the North.

“Police reports suggest that there are up to 20 young people working as prostitutes in Northern Ireland,” she said.

“We need more severe penalties and stricter deterrents to prevent any increase to these startling statistics.

“Yet we should not forget that the children are the victims here. We must penalise the perpetrators and protect the victims.”

A spokeswoman for Barnardo’s said the children’s charity was aware of a child prostitution problem in Northern Ireland.

“In the last few years social services have approached us with a number of young girls who were involved in underage prostitution,” she said.

“We have set up a project with two workers who are working with social services agencies, people in the education sector and police in a bid to find out more about the issue.

“What we’re trying to do is make people aware of the problem.

“This is not a problem that is obvious on the streets, it is always hidden but we have no reason to believe that it isn’t happening here.

“It’s an issue for girls and boys and it is important to stop it now before the problem becomes any bigger. Even one or two is too many.”