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?

There are men who have visited sex workers who are “nice normal guys who just want to have sex” too. I have known (and dated) more than a few.

Talk to the teachers OP and see if they are aware. I wouldn't want to walk past a place that considers women's bodies as commodities every day. And they are probably underage/illegal as well.

I suspect you are not typical and may have your own challenges or history. These sorts of threads always bring out apologists for men’s behaviour.

Report it to the police and the council. If it’s a brothel, it will be investigated and shut down.

A barbershop down the road from us has been closed, and is covered in police tape and legal notices saying criminal activities have taken place there and that various court proceedings are lined up. We do actually have laws in this country, and institutions in place to enforce them.

Urgh. Raise your bar!

How is public photography a breach of the peace?

You can contact your council planning enforcement officer (look on council website for Planning and enforcement will be one of the teams) as it may well require a change of use.

Otherwise... it's not ideal really, is it? A brothel next to a school? It isn't just about what goes on inside the building but the amount of traffic parking outside (safety concerns!) and any anti social behaviour. Everyone can pretend to be cool about it, sex work is real work and all that, but brothels and massage parlours are very often fronts for illegal activity. I wouldn't be cool with it.

“Challenges”

Jesus Christ. The armchair psychologists are at it again.

I just looked that up and see brothels are illegal in the UK. Seems a fairly open and shut case.

OP should call the council and police and get it shut down.

My bar is sky high but thanks for the concern.

It’s just laughable to insist anybody (male, specifically) who has ever paid for sex is definitely abusive.

^ this

do people really think these are nicely run establishments with kind caring management, staff are looked after and those running them are not involved in other money making business that are very lucrative

No reason to just shrug this off, though.

clutching my pearls

Please don’t allow yourself to be care about being branded as being like Mary Whitehouse by the cool parents. If you look at what Mary Whitehorse raised concerns about, she wasn’t wrong in a lot of cases (though she was religiously homophobic, to be sure).

Shrugging this off just normalises it. Please do go ahead and report this to the council.

Did typing that make you feel all cool and progressive?

I used to live next door to a brothel in my early 20s. I got curb crawled constantly by the owner. There were regular very loud altercations going on. They also got raided by armed police (we had to stay inside our flat while the police went in) which means they probably had weapons on the premises. I didn’t really care at the time but I wouldn’t want my daughter anywhere near it.

I don’t know what your set up is like and it might be a calmer establishment, but criminals don’t generally stick to just one type of criminal activity. Prostitution, sex trafficking, weapons and drugs often go hand in hand.

Yes - seeing as a fairly high proportion of prostitutes have experienced child sexual abuse ( and throw mental health issues and addictions into the mix) someone who is drawn repeatedly to relationships with men who pay for sex is quite likely to have their own challenges.

Thai massage places are very often both. I've had some excellent massages in Thai spas and simply refused the offer of a happy ending.

Oh not you again! I wondered if you’d turn up !

Men (not all) are so fucking creepy and grim. Why should these places exist at all.

Conversely, paying shows that one doesn't think they're entitled to it. That's the difference between a paying customer and a shoplifter.

If you're in the UK, a brothel isn't just a 'front for illegal activity', it IS illegal.

Of course it is pretty likely that there will also be other illegal activity associated with the brothel - trafficking, slavery, sexual abuse of minors, illegal drugs, money laundering, pimping... it's just stupid to claim that prostitution is a legitimate business like any other.

We have never celebrated it other than when children were small and made a card at infant/primary school.

My children are adults and don't need a set day to drop everything just to 'honour' me, we meet up all throughout the year and gifted flowers etc.

I said this on your other thread but I’ll say it again, go to the police and report it.

08000121700 Is the phone number for reporting possible modern slavery. I’d ring them.