Commenting on how the PSNI have implemented the law here, Lord Morrow said:
“This week, brothels in Ballymena and Omagh have been raided by the PSNI. Whilst arrests have been made, it is concerning that the PSNI have not fully used the power granted to them, by virtue of my private member’s bill, to go after men who had purchased sex through these brothels.
By criminalising the purchase of sex, international best practice shows that the demand for sexual services decreases. Logic dictates that if there is no demand for sexual services then criminal gangs would not be able to profit from the sale of vulnerable people and the incentive for human trafficking would be removed.
Given no one has yet been charged with the purchase of sex following this week’s brothel raids, several questions need to be answered by the PSNI:
- What is going to happen to the men who were onsite, purchasing sex, when the raids happened?
- Will the PSNI utilise the information obtained from mobile phone data and text messages found at the brothels to pursue those who purchased sex from women trafficked to this country?
- Will the PSNI do what they have done on each occasion since 2015 and simply ignore the legislation and allow the demand for sexual services to remain unabated and send a signal to the criminal gangs that more women can be trafficked here to meet the demand?
In 2022 similar raids on 27 brothels in the greater Belfast area resulted in no convictions for the purchase of sex. Has a decision has been taken not to enforce the law by the police? If so, then the public are entitled to know why.
I have written to the Chief Constable asking for an urgent meeting so that he can explain why the PSNI are failing to fully use the law at their disposal. His predecessors decided not to pursue anyone found to be purchasing sex in Northern Ireland, the new Chief Constable must take a different approach.
Last week saw the conviction of a Belfast man, only the second successful conviction since the law was introduced in 2015. The police were able to secure this conviction using mobile phone data and messages, no special covert operation was required.
The same approach needs to be taken with the mobile phone data retrieved in the brothel raids in Omagh and Ballymena.
While the PSNI need to act, the Department of Justice and the Public Prosecution Service also have a responsibility. They must ensure that resource is made available to the PSNI and that prosecutions are prioritised. It is only by ensuring the law is enforced that the evil trade of human trafficking will be stopped. I look forward to meeting with the Chief Constable and receiving assurances that the PSNI will play their part in fully implementing the law.”
