Church Service to be Held for Murdered Prostitutes

Following the tragic killings of five prostitutes, a candlelit service is to be held to comfort family and friends of the murdered women in a church close to where two of the bodies were found.

The Rev Chris Wingfield will hold a service at St Peter's Church, Copdock, near Ipswich on Friday afternoon.

He said people needed "time and space" to absorb the events of the last few days.

"It's a chance for the whole community to reach out," said its rector the Rev Chris Wingfield.

"We want to extend a very special invitation to the family and friends of the victims and members of police and all the agencies involved in the investigation."

The National Christian Alliance on Prostitution (NCAP) recently issued a response to the murders.

All five of the women were known to the NCAP, a collaborative network of over 40 projects which work to provide routes out to men and women involved in prostitution in the UK.

As the murders continue to generate enormous national interest, the NCAP appealed to the media to avoid stigmatising the women victims in its reportage of the murders and said that legalising prostitution was not the answer.

"With high levels of violence, abuse and exploitation involved there is no guarantee that this will improve safety and we would instead promote increased choices for vulnerable women and also moves to address demand," it said.

Mark Wakeling, director of the NCAP said, "Increasingly in society we are seeing the responsibility being placed upon the consumer to ensure their purchases do not lead to exploitation. Here is a prime example of where it is essential that people who purchase sex reflect upon the vulnerability of the people involved."