The number of prostitution offences committed in Birmingham and the West Midlands over the last five years

New figures have revealed the number of prostitution offences which have been committed in the West Midlands over the last five years.

Prostitution itself isn’t illegal in the UK (except in Northern Ireland) but there are a number of crimes linked to it. It is an offence, for example, to control a prostitute for financial gain or to keep a brothel. Some of the other offences which are illegal include soliciting in a public place, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, pimping and pandering, are illegal.

Research published in 2015 indicated that there were approximately 72,800 sex workers in the UK; 88% were women, 6% men and 4% transgender. The Crown Prosecution Service’s guidance on prostitution says it “focuses on the prosecution of those who force others into prostitution, exploit, abuse and harm them. Our joint approach with the police, with the support of other agencies, is to help those involved in prostitution to develop routes out”.

What do figures show for the West Milands?

Figures from the Home Office show the number of prostitution offences recorded by police forces across England and Wales. The figures look at the number of crimes reported to and recorded by police forces. The data looks at soliciting and exploiting offences.

Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services and exploitation a person for prostitution. Exploitation of prostitution’ includes the following:

• Controlling prostitution for gain;
• Keeping a brothel used for prostitution;
• Causing or inciting prostitution for gain. For example, a man and a woman were jailed in February 2022 for running a brothel being used to exploit trafficked and vulnerable women in Birmingham. Deli Sun and Xiao Qin Zhong were jailed for their part in running the brothel on Berkley Street in the city centre.

The figures show that West Midlands Police has recorded 127 soliciting offences since 2017 (up to September 2022). This is the fifth highest out of any force in England and Wales.

Avon & Somerset Police has recorded the highest number of soliciting offences with 378, the Metropolitan Police is second with 338 offences recorded, the Nottinghamshire force recorded 238 and West Yorkshire Police recorded 164 since 2017.

The figures also show that 49 exploitation offences were recorded in the same time period, from 2017 up to September 2022. This was the ninth highest out of forces in England and Wales. The Metropolitan Police recorded 144 exploitation offences in the same time period, and Kent Police recorded 125 offences. And Lancashire Police had the third highest amount of exploitation offences recorded with 73 recorded since 2017.

What is West Midlands Police’s strategy when dealing with prostitution crime?

A spokeswoman for the force, said: “We follow national guidance which focusses on reducing vulnerability and criminality. We recognise that many sex workers are exploited and are victims of organised crime.

“We work with third party organisations to identify this vulnerability, offering safeguarding and support, which is also part of our commitment to reducing violence against women and girls (VAWG).

“We aim to identify the exploiters and bring them to justice as their activities are often connected to wider criminality. This includes conducting warrants at premises where we believe such exploitation is taking place. We are continually aiming to improve our response to sex work and associated criminality. Each neighbourhood area has it’s own approach based on their knowledge of the vulnerability and impact on the community.”