A BBC investigation, published on 4th July 2011, has found that up to half a million pounds is being spent on prostitution every week in Northern Ireland. That's £70,000 every day, or almost £3,000 every single hour!!!
Police estimate there are 88 brothels in operation, and say that Northern Ireland has a higher demand for prostitution than most other areas of Europe. So in every county, there may be about 15 of these 'houses of ill-repute.' That means that there might even be brothels in some of our provincial towns and small villages. This figure is extremely depressing, and who knows whose young daughter is involved in such a trade!
The brothels are usually run by local gangs, including paramilitaries, but there are also foreign groups. Many of the women working in the brothels have been trafficked from abroad. They are held captive and forced into prostitution. The problem is most evident in Belfast, but other towns and cities – such as Londonderry, Antrim, Enniskillen, Portadown and Bangor – are known to have brothels. If this is the case, then the police have a duty to arrest those involved in this wicked trade, and close down these hell-holes without delay.
The gangs can make millions of pounds in a year by exploiting women they have brought to Northern Ireland illegally. The police have broken up some of the prostitution rings and rescued dozens of women from the sex trade over the last couple of years. This is welcome news, and we wish the police great success in their attempts to disband these blights on our society. However, every day, new women are being brought in from abroad and often the women are so traumatised by their experiences they can’t help the police bring convictions against the gangs.
Detective Inspector Douglas Grant said the public needed to know the full extent of the problem. “There’s a significant demand in Northern Ireland for prostitutes and that’s larger than other parts of the UK and Europe,” he said.
If Northern Ireland, with its tiny 1.7m population, is the European leader in prostitution, can we believe that the police are actively pursuing the owners of these brothels, and rescuing the young girls who are being used and abused by these criminal thugs? Of course, given the corruption that is going on within policing throughout the UK, can we be excused for believing that there might be a reason for the little action that is being taken against these criminals?
If there a real answer to this growing problem? Can anything be done to stop this traumatising abuse of females? Yes, and the Bible alone has the answer. Policing alone cannot stop such practices, because when one establishment is closed down, another opens a few doors away. Not only do girls become hooked on this behaviour, so also do those who make their fortunes on this elicit trade. But this is 21st century slavery. And this slavery is paralysing in its effect. This is repeating what was done centuries ago, and outlawed by the valiant efforts of evangelical Christian, William Wilberforce, who as an MP, was instrumental in abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833.
Northern Ireland needs another principled MP or other Christian to lead the charge in bringing an end to this vile industry. But given that our pragmatism motivates current political leaders, we won't hold our breaths on them. We don't even hear any church leader highlighting this abomination, and the church is supposed to the conscience of the nation. We won't hold our breaths here either!
But then again, given the level of corruption within the churches, it would not surprise in the least if church people were not involved in this sinful trade. If church officials travel to England for these services, then they will not want to be seen denouncing their service-providers' colleagues in GB, will they?
But prostitution coupled with sodomy in a small place like this makes a frightening cocktail, does it not? Is it any wonder that we have been under the judgement of God in recent decades for tolerating and promoting such perversions? And so long as these are allowed to continue unchallenged, we can look forward to nothing but even more bleak days for us and for our children. May God have mercy on us in the midst of His righteous anger!
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