Uncovering the secret sex trade

THEY might not advertise themselves, but they are there. To all appearances, they might be average types of women, just ordinary faces in the crowd. They're all dressed up in skimpy clothes - but then in Newcastle, that's normal - and men eye them up as they pass. Yet these are not like other women just heading out to hit the town. They're working girls, and what is more, they're not uncommon.

This is the picture that's presented by Laura Seebohm, development worker for the GAP project. She deals with women in the sex trade in Newcastle and beyond, and says the lack of a red light district has kept this secret far too long. "It's a very hidden problem," she says. "I think that because there's no red light district, in some ways the women are more vulnerable because nobody knows about it. It's behind closed doors, really."

Though those who worked with vulnerable women had an inkling of the problem, it was just last year when a statutory body decided to act. Research by the Government Office North East confirmed a trade in prostitution with women largely as its victims. "A researcher interviewed people from around the area in relation to sex work and what came out very clearly showed a lack of support for women," says Laura.

"She interviewed some women I was working with and we felt we couldn't just leave them. We felt we needed to do something, so we set up a weekly drop-in in central Newcastle. Gradually, more and more women were coming to that, largely through word of mouth, and through that we got funding for a pilot scheme to actually set up and develop a project for sex workers."

With Laura's background in probation, she had seen women in the sex trade, but through the drop-in she learned much more. "What we found was that there are a lot of women involved in sex work," she says. "There's also a big group of women who are maybe very vulnerable and have a lot of problems, for example homelessness, who end up being targeted or groomed by men saying 'I'll give you a roof over your head', and they might get involved in sex work. They might not identify themselves as sex workers but they are being sexually exploited."

The drop-in ran throughout last year, then in November, with extra funding, the current project (the title GAP stands for Girls Are Proud) got under way. It's Laura's baby and with her tact and sensitivity, it's clear she's perfect as its leader. She takes a flexible approach.

"The drop-in is still ongoing but for some women, a group drop-in might not be for them," she says. "We call it an assertive outreach approach. I would visit women wherever they feel comfortable. It might be that I would meet them in town for coffee, at the services or at their home, and they can remain anonymous."

As part of her role, she's closely linked with the Tyneside Cyrenians, a long-standing charity based in Newcastle. It works with many vulnerable people, attempting to lift their aspirations. It's this that Laura hopes to do.

"It's a particularly vulnerable group and a lot of the women might not be engaged in any mainstream services, especially in relation to health," she says. "A lot of the women are homeless, so a big part of my role is trying to help them access the services they need. But more than that, we want to offer genuine and long-lasting opportunities, because often women might feel that there's no way out once they get in the cycle of sex work."

These opportunities have been quite carefully thought out. They are designed to show the women a whole new world beyond the streets. "We are developing links with Northumbria University, looking at sport and hopefully fashion, and also with Dance City" says Laura. "Then there's art and photography, and we're very keen to provide peer-led support because sex workers often take quite a while to trust professionals."

She looks to Claire (not her real name), a former prostitute, for confirmation of this fact. Claire has been present all along and has spoken little up to now, but when she does, she does so powerfully. She tells me how she came to be here.

"Somebody contacted me through the Bridge View Drug Treatment Project and interviewed me, and I was telling her that there was no support when I was doing a prostitute," she says. "We realised there was a gap in the services and she asked me did I want to get involved and help, and I did."

From what both Claire and Laura say, Claire's story seems a fairly common one. At 21, becoming homeless, she turned to heroin for comfort. She needed money and loath to steal, she followed friends into the sex trade. It was a miserable existence. "It was horrible. It was really, really hard being homeless and addicted to heroin, and doing that (prostitution) gets you really down. It's not a nice place to be," says Claire.

For her, there was a happy ending - she's been off heroin for two years now, has a partner and a home, and has a baby on the way. She's been a blessing to the project, and no doubt when she's done her training (she's set her sights on being a counsellor) will be an even greater asset. What Claire and Laura seek to do is treat each woman as unique.

"Sex workers aren't one homogenous group - there are lots of different reasons why women might get involved, and part of what we are doing is getting more and more information and understanding, because a lot of the support agencies in Newcastle, statutory and voluntary, aren't aware of the nature and extent of the problem," says Laura.

"Contrary to belief, there are some women working on the streets in Newcastle in Pink Lane and around Central Station, even the Quayside. It tends to be areas where there are lots of other people. Some women might work for themselves via advertising in the papers or on the internet. Some might work for escort agencies." Claire adds: "A lot of them are sent out by their boyfriends to feed their boyfriends' drug habits."

What's undisputable is that for many in the sex trade, drugs and alcohol are involved. It's easy to see how vicious circles become established, where women's addictions lead them into prostitution then feeling low as a result, they only drink and take drugs more. While those who turn to GAP for help are mostly local and in their 20s, it's felt that other types of women might need support.

"I think there is a problem with younger girls that we might not yet know about," says Laura. "At the moment I'm trying to make inroads into possibly working with asylum seekers. I know it's a massive issue because if you're an asylum seeker you don't have the same rights and routes into accommodation, so when you're homeless you're very vulnerable to sexual exploitation. I know there's a significant number of women out there who could benefit from the service. The ones we've seen are the tip of the iceberg."

With only six months' funding guaranteed, it's hoped the project will secure some further income. If this comes through then it will spread to other places in the region. As Laura says, for many women, it means the chance of a new life. "I would like to see women with totally different lifestyles, aspirations, self-confidence and esteem," she says. "It would be great to see women coming through who were no longer at risk."

* The GAP project can be contacted on 0191-273-8891.