Illegal brothels uncovered in central London neighbourhoods
Dozens of illegal brothels are operating in some of London’s most exclusive postcodes, a new investigation by ITV News has uncovered.
From Kensington to Mayfair, a number of Albanian gangs are running a network of brothels across the capital.
During the undercover operation, footage shows reporters being approached in the street and taken to one of the brothels, where they were offered five women to choose from.
According to Cristina Huddleston, director of European Operations for Justice and Care, an anti-slavery and trafficking group, at least some of the women in the footage are slaves.
She said that there were tell-tale signs the women are there against their will and explains the most likely scenario is they have been forced into this world by being tricked, threatened, coerced or even trafficked by criminal gangs.
“In this case, there’s the one guy, one mobile number, the meet, the discussion of money, the discussion of the services. Someone who brings them to their location…they can serve…anything up to 30 men a day, seven days a week”, she said
“Every customer they do, every pound that they earn it is set against the debt. Debt bondage is any amount of money that’s been spent on an individual’s clothing, make-up, even the coffee that they drank was put down as a debt.
“There is no consent. Every single customer is a rape…there’s a threat against them.”
Before the Open newsletter: Start your day with the City View podcast and key market data
ITV also spoke anonymously to a man who used to work for one of the criminal organisations, who described how the gangs operate.
“We stand outside the busy clubs in Mayfair. The men that we’re looking for have been drinking, these are our prey”, he said.
“We offer him a nice party and if he accepts then he follows us to the house. Sometimes they don’t know what they’re doing. We max out their credit cards – that’s the whole idea. Money is always coming in and out of the place every day, especially weekends. The houses are full.”
According to the man, the women can make as little as £60 of a £300 fee and can see as many as 12 men a night.
According to last year’s Home Office report on modern slavery, there are 14,000 such victims in the UK, but some put the figure far higher.
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) and Justice and Care said that there are at least 100,000 victims, dwarfing the official figure.
The full report will air on ITV tonight at 10 o’clock.