Anti-slavery commissioner launches investigation into ‘pimping websites’

The UK’s anti-slavery commissioner has launched an investigation into so-called pimping websites.

Eleanor Lyons told Sky News presenter Gareth Barlow she wants to find the “hotbeds of exploitation” among the hundreds of adult services websites operating in the UK, where users are offered women for sale by simply typing in their postcode.

The independent commissioner described the sites as “chilling” and said 5,000 women and girls were identified as victims of sexual exploitation in the last year alone, which is likely just the “tip of the iceberg”.

“In fact, this number has been rising year on year, and part of the issue has been that the online world has made it easier for criminals and traffickers to identify and sell those victims of sexual exploitation online,” she said.

“And it is alarming that adult service websites are operating freely in the UK, allowing for victims of sexual exploitation to be advertised.”

The probe comes after a Sky News investigation uncovered thousands of potential indicators of sexual exploitation on two of the UK’s most prominent adult service websites, raising serious concerns about how traffickers may be using the platforms to advertise and abuse victims.

Ms Lyons said some of the sites take their obligations seriously but others are ignoring trafficking red flags.

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They include the same language being used to advertise women in different parts of the country, multiple women being advertised on the same phone number and reports of coercive control in the reviews.

Prostitution is legal in England and Wales. But the controlling of prostitution for gain, sometimes called pimping, and the more severe crime of trafficking, are not.

Ms Lyons said the Online Safety Act puts some duties on the adult services websites but is calling for stronger regulations and laws to be properly enforced.

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“I speak to survivors of sexual exploitation as part of my work, and they tell me that they were advertised online against their will,” she said.

“Now, as adult service websites were part of this exploitation and so there are clear gaps, there are clear problems in this area, and we need the government to look at this more seriously.

“We need to identify those issues so that we’re helping victims of exploitation who are going through some really horrific things on a day-to-day basis in communities right across the country.”

Ms Lyons said she plans to speak to survivors, police and Ofcom, as well as mapping adult services websites, as part of the investigation, with her report expected to be published later this year.

A spokesperson for the adult services website Vivastreet told Sky News it “takes safety extremely seriously”.

“We deploy a range of measures to detect, report and remove potentially exploitative content, including requiring all adult category advertisers to undergo age and ID verification,” they said.

“All our adverts are screened via a range of indicators informed by police advice, with suspicious content referred proactively to a central policing unit. Since 2022, we have referred over 4,600 accounts via this industry-first referral pathway.”

Vivastreet also said experts were “clear” that indicators suggesting exploitation could have “innocent explanations”.

“For example, many sex workers advertise using different names and personas, and ‘touring’ – moving for short periods of time to different areas to take bookings – is a well-known practice,” the spokesperson said.

“Our adverts are purchased and displayed in narrow geographical areas, and so any advertiser who wishes to reach an audience outside their precise location will need to buy more than one, meaning their phone number will appear more than once on the platform.”