Crusade against trafficking may be missing the point on sex industry

Reports into human trafficking typically fail to acknowledge that foreigners who wish to come to work in the EU have very few legal options available, and thus tend to be forced into the shadow economy where they are, indeed, vulnerable to exploitation

A BBC investigation has that found up to £500,000 every week is spent on prostitution in the North, while the PSNI estimate there are 88 brothels in operation. Cue predictable outrage from every quarter. Presumably, the figures south of the border are even higher.

According to the BBC, “Many of the women working in the brothels have been trafficked from abroad. They are held captive and forced into prostitution.” Sensational stuff, eh? Images of hundreds of dark ladies held in manacles, unshackled only to perform their immoral services, spring to mind.