To be upset a brothel has opened next door to my child's school

[OneJadeEagle]

Walking past school last week I noticed a shop next door that had been shut for ages has now turned into a 'massage' place. Curtains firmly shut, doorbell on, locked door, 'calling cards' left on the outside for people to pick up discreetly. Checked online and the gumtree ads and reviews from men leave no doubt the type of massages they are offering.

The school is a special needs school and some of the older children, whilst vulnerable with learning disabilities, do walk to school alone past the premises. The whole thing just really gives me the creeps, the idea of a bunch of creepy men being attracted to the road right by all these kids, possibly drugs etc.

Anyways I messaged the class WhatsApp to try and co-ordinate complaints to the council and the general vibe was I was overreacting. We are in a big city, there's always going to be something going on in the vicinity. Why put some ladies out of work when they're trying to earn an honest living and as long as they aren't parading into school what's the drama.

I don't know, AIBU?

🍿
Pro-prostitution mothers in a special needs school not worried about prostitution happening next door to the school and you need MN to work out if you need to safeguard your child or not?🙄

Tip

Get a big old fashioned camera and
some high vis vests with Mumpatrolon_SM on the back
stand out side your school and
aim the camera at the business door and
say smile for the camera to any one passing

The problem will quickly resolve itself.

Surely the kids won’t know what it is unless you tell them?

What is the problem, are they having sex in full view of the street ? The children won't take any notice or even know what is going on inside. They will only know if their Mothers are having outraged conversations within their earshot.
I lived in a town on mainland Europe where there was a "club" with a stripper sign outside right next to the Church, nobody bothered.

I wouldn't like it much either.

You have every right to feel concerned, but I suppose other people equally have the right to not be bothered by it.

However, it isn't a case of act collectively or don't act at all. You are perfectly entitled to a solo effort. Contact official channels and make your voice heard. Start with school authorities, local councillors and local MP.

That’s appalling that the council have allowed this - I would start with them. Kick up as massive a fuss as you can. Children should not have to walk past the disgusting predatory abusive men who will be going there.

Check with the local council that they have approval. Just because they have set up shop, does not mean they have appropriate change of use.

Calling cards? Haven't seen one of those since the 90's plastered all over London phone boxes.

Children walk past disgusting predatory men everywhere they go unfortunately

Have you spoken to the headteacher?

That is the person to whom the council is most likely to listen.

Also speak to the governing body.

I used to live in a small village. Everyone knew about the massage parlour over the grocery shop.
One parent left his dog outside otherwise we would never have known he used their services. 😂

You know that owning or managing a brothel is illegal in the uk ? Why don’t you report it?

Talk to the school, they can also contact the council. Yes, a big safeguarding concern and illegal!!

Why don’t you just report to the police ?

No way!
There has to be laws about the distance and position of children areas, schools, libraries.... and adult industry places. For sure?
And if they are not registered.... well then they are illegal.
The council will inspect them if you show them the reviews.

A lot of special schools are placed in shitty areas or random places because the rents are lower. It doesn’t make this nice or ‘right’. Definitely complain.

Seeing as there’s an association between massage parlours and sex trafficking or other abuses of the women working there, I would be reporting it for that reason alone.

Yeah that was the view of other parents I guess. I don't want to be a Mary Whitehouse style puritan, it just weirds me out. Not because of the women, but because of the creepy men.

Well they haven't - brothel-keeping is against the law. They just obviously haven't checked / don't care.

Also true.

Most of these places use trafficked girls and women. The door being locked and shut is a big red flag that it isn’t consenting happy hookers making an honest living. If it were, they’d hardly need to be locked up. I would be reporting it to the police as potential modern slavery issue.

I have not discussed this in front of my child, by the way! He has special needs, he doesn't understand the facts of life, far less what a brothel is. As I say I don't know why it gives me the creeps so much as I know realistically the house opposite me could be used for the same purposes and I would be none the wiser.

Agree, and not to the bloody council, but to the police. Or here
https://www.modernslavery.gov.uk/start
or by calling tel:0800 0121 700

How many posts in total are you going to make about this?

Because I wasn't sure if I was being unreasonable and unnecessarily morally outraged about something that truly wasn't impacting the kids really. Hence trying to get an unbiased view from MN

Ugh this one didn't get posted for an hour because of MN screening (they screen stuff out which makes reference to crimes). So having thought it was being filtered out I re-posted with some wording changes.