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?

An illegal shop that sells sex services most likely by grooming vulnerable, naive and impressionable girls put next to a school full of .... vulnerable, impressionable and naive girls (arguably more so than average if they have additional needs) ..... can't see that going wrong at all. I think you're right to be concerned op and I'd be surprised if the school aren't also worried. Have you talked to them about it?

I assume you are in UK and not the Netherlands or similar.

If so, just call the police. You have evidence the owners are operating an illegal brothel.

In all likelihood it will involve trafficking and organised crime.

The police, particularly the Met, love this kind of stuff

WTF are you posting on your class WhatsApp / MN

That’s not always true what you’ve said

i know some sex workers who love their job. I know escorts who love their job.

There was one next to my college... the ladies used to pop into the cafe at lunch to buy odd things.. cucumbers, giant tubs of mayo.
We found it very funny. They always looked so rough in their slippers and dressing gowns with a fag hanging out of their mouths...

Sorry, I'm being mean. But I do not support sex work... it's wrong.

So you’re saying all men who use escorts or prostitution are abusers? All of them?

or just the majority?

Bloody hell. Do you honestly think that men who are already committing a crime by paying vulnerable women and teenagers for sex draw a line around that criminality and that's as 'bad' as it gets??

It is NOT an issue that the pimp or punters might be recruiting vulnerable kids with SEN off the streets, FFS! That's highly unlikely. What IS more likely is that men who are prepared to do this illegal activity don't have scruples about what other criminal activities they are involved in. And that having a brothel very close to a school is essentially a magnet to attract them into that area. Can you really not understand why people are concerned?

Again. What an assumption

you assume that I’ve never lived in a poor area?

i grew up homeless at one point….

your assumption was wrong

ALL men who use prostitutes are abusers.

Also, what's the difference between a prostitute and an escort?

Not only that. I have volunteered with the homeless for over 26 years who are entrenched in addictions. I meet sec workers all the time through that. I know the stats. I know and see the physical evidence.

Show me the proof to what you’ve said please.

Any thoughts about the fact it's illegal for sexworkers to work together, and as well as having their earnings confiscated and temp losing business until they can be setup elsewhere, they will end up arrested and charged if the police end up raiding this brothel?

"For a start, please be aware that brothels and prostitution in the UK are ILLEGAL."

In Britain, prostitution itself is legal. Buying and selling sexual services between consenting adults is legal as long as it's in private and the sexworker is alone (can not work with another sexworker or have security because of laws against brothels and pimping). So it can legally happen in a hotel room or the sexworker's private home for example. Advertising is legal too.

"In all likelihood it will involve trafficking and organised crime."

What many people automatically assume. The largest anti-trafficking operation ever in the UK was in 2009. Police and other services surprise raided all known brothels all across the UK over a 6 month period to look for traffickers and trafficked victims. They found virtually nothing.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/oct/20/government-trafficking-enquiry-fails

"The UK's biggest ever investigation of sex trafficking failed to find a single person who had forced anybody into prostitution in spite of hundreds of raids on sex workers in a six-month campaign by government departments, specialist agencies and every police force in the country.

The failure has been disclosed by a Guardian investigation which also suggests that the scale of and nature of sex trafficking into the UK has been exaggerated by politicians and media.

Current and former ministers have claimed that thousands of women have been imported into the UK and forced to work as sex slaves, but most of these statements were either based on distortions of quoted sources or fabrications without any source at all."

Are you saying that men who buy a wank into a woman’s body are all decent, upstanding feminist allies who have never even considered the possibility of using a misogynistic insult in their lives, and think women’s lives, time and efforts are as worthy as their own?

I remind you, I used to live in a shitty area. I just explained how I used to have to fight my way ( and run, ok didn’t say that) past the kind of scum that these activities attract. As a 13 yr old.

Oh that's nice. So should we be grateful that punters aren't just going out and raping women? That is your analogy.

The old 'well, at least the existence of prostitution stops potentially abusive men from raping women because that's the only way they can get sex' argument is pathetic and apologist. Listen to yourself?

I would be more concerned that children that 'look' like they're over the age of consent get encouraged to participate since they walk past the brothel.

I suspect there are a few punters on this thread with all the defending of these creepy men and desperate attempts to brush trafficking of women under the carpet.

@Christinapple it’s not exactly hard to find evidence to the contrary https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/14/seventeen-arrested-in-london-in-human-trafficking-crackdown. Link may not work due to cookies etc. www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/38-arrested-as-national-law-enforcement-drive-targets-child-traffickers?highlight=WyJuYXRpb25hbCIsInJlZmVycmFsIiwibWVjaGFuaXNtIiwidG8iLCJvZiIsInllYXIiXQ==

Oh well a report from 2009 by the Police we can all dismiss out concerns

of course vulnerable woman are going to be honest with Police as we all know how protective they are towards vulnerable woman 🙄

one report against countless concerns raised and investigations carried out by charities and organizations that work with vulnerable woman about sex trafficking and the manipulation of women and sometimes girls

Keeping in mind a large number of brothels are run by gangs and human traffickers, I think looking past the dangers from JUST the customers is wise

This has to be a joke.

Do you think women trust the police? They are usually lured from their country under false pretences with the threat of harm to them/their family hanging over them.

Did you think the police turned up and they all told the total truth?

Just report it OP. The location and the shady locked door appearance. To the police and the council and the headteacher. Why wouldn't you? Fear of being thought uncool or a busy body?

We could do with more Mary Whitehouse types if you ask me. Speak up if you have concerns, especially if children are involved.

In Leeds they had the Holbeck "managed prostitution" area which turned into an unsafe wild west area for all women and girls. That was only scrapped because of regular people (women) raising concerns and campaigning.
I'm not saying it will turn into a wild west by your school, just that people can make a difference if they speak up. The authorities had a shit idea, didn't listen, endangered women and children and then wouldn't admit it until pressured.

This. I can't believe how many people on this thread are minimising the impact of prostitution on the women involved and the community around them. It's a vile trade in women's bodies and everyone should object whenever they can.

And this will explain the state of the world we live in - people are asking 'what is the problem with filth?'

Get a round the clock vigilante group to slow clap anyone who comes and goes.

So the mums at a SN school don't think a brothel next door will affect their DC? I'd go and photo the wretched place - make sure you are visible. Men who use 'massage parlours' are not keen on being put up on social media doing it, so the place could just shut itself down if you do it long enough.
Aside from that, the women inside are not 'making an honest living' and you'd expect other women to feel for their plight, selling the holes in their bodies to satisfy some creepy man's belief he is entitled to sex, entitled to do whatever he wants with someone else's body. Sex work is not work, it is exploitation of women and girls (and some men and boys) for use by men. It is not something I would want my DC walking past to school, SN or not - especially not girls! Some women have a blind spot re this - would they like their DDs to become those 'ladies making an honest living'? I bet not.