Widdecombe Urges Greater Support for Prostitutes

Ann Widdecombe MP, and member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, has called on the Government to provide greater support and more care services for women trying to leave prostitution.

Widdecombe's programme 'Ann Widdecombe versus Prostitution' was recently screened on ITV. The CCF member then also posted a video on Friction.tv tackling the issue of the legalisation of prostitution.

In the video, Widdecombe argues that legalisation of prostitution is not the answer, and highlights the catch 22 situation street prostitutes find themselves in.

"Ninety five percent of street prostitutes are seriously addicted to Class A drugs and usually its heroin," she said.

"There is one part of this solution that is absolutely missing as far as I can see and that is, if a girl says 'I want to stop, I want to get off the game' there is no refuge available, there's no residential drugs programme available, by the time those things can be put in place which can be months away, she has given up the resolution to leave it."

Widdecombe urged police to focus the fight on kerb crawlers, saying: "I do believe that we should have zero tolerance policing, particularly for kerb crawlers because if you can get rid of the kerb crawlers you take the custom away from the girls and then the girls don't do it."

However, Widdecombe's posting was rebutted by the Scottish Independent MSP Margo MacDonald, who posted a reply.

MacDonald said she respects Widdecombe as a woman and politician but believes "she has got it wrong when it comes to prostitution".

She said: "I like Ann Widdecombe, she's a good woman, she's a decent woman.... I think she doesn't know much about prostitutes or prostitution or the complexity and many layer topicality of the whole subject."

MacDonald responded to the suggestion that prostitution could be eliminated, saying: "Some well meaning people think they can eliminate prostitution entirely. I ask you, at a time when more and more people are looking toward paid escorting and it's entirely up to the escort as to whether or not sexual favours or there is a sexual content to the companionship offered by them at the end of an evening."