The head of police in Perth and Kinross is keen to clamp down on prostitution, stressing officers are “targeting” those criminals behind the trade.
Chief Inspector Mike Whitford, of Police Scotland’s Tayside Division, told The Courier he wants the public to let police know if they have suspicions of “organised crime” and that “indoor” prostitution is a problem in Perth that officers are aware of.
“There is prostitution in Perth as there is all across the country,” he said.
“However, it’s very much about recognising the vulnerability of the women involved and trying to get the people who are coordinating and profiting from this type of crime.
“Community and detective officers are leading on this to identify premises being used for prostitution. They are engaging with the women and working with partner agencies to identify the people involved and address the risk and vulnerability.
“Prostitution is pretty universal across Scotland as it is across the UK and the world and it’s up to us to protect the women and the public from this crime.
“We need to get in there and target the individuals who are exploiting these women. There is also people-trafficking and sexual slavery involved in prostitution and these are horrible, horrible crimes on extremely vulnerable people.
“Perth can’t be immune to that so if it is happening here we need to know and the public can really help us by reporting their suspicions.”
Mr Whitford highlighted the difficulties in tracking down those involved in organised prostitution in Perth.
“My focus is the vulnerability of prostitutes and the threat it poses to often desperate people,” he said.
“Many cities have ‘red light’ areas where prostitutes work on the streets but Perth doesn’t. Perth has indoor prostitution going on and that makes it a different challenge.
“I ask the public to support us in this fight by contacting us on 101 or through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, or speak to their local community officers.”
Judy Murphy, women’s team leader at Perthshire Women’s Aid, said the group backed police action to target criminals behind prostitution in Perth.
“We applaud the recent police initiative to assist the vulnerable women in Perth who are involved in prostitution as we should all be challenging this continued exploitation of women in a civilised modern society,” she said.
“Perthshire Women’s Aid views prostitution as part of the greater spectrum of men’s violence against women.”