CCTV will not deter prostitutes

By Rosie Stewart

SEX WORKERS on Market Road have said they will not be put off despite the decision to install a £1 million CCTV camera scheme.

Islington Council and local police want to install cameras across the borough in an effort to drive out prostitution and anti-social behaviour.

One prostitute said: “I don’t care about the cameras, I’ve got to work, I’ve got to earn money.”
She added: “I moved from King’s Cross not because of the cameras, but because I was banned from the area. Instead of punishing us they should give us areas where we can work in safety.”

Labour Councillor for Caledonian, Paul Convery, has lobbied the council for CCTV cameras for the past three years. He denied the suggestion that instead of resolving the problem, it was simply driving it elsewhere.

“We’re under no illusions that there’s any quick fix solution," he said. "It may not stop prostitutes but it will deter the men that use them. This is not about criminalising the women - it’s about disrupting the trade.”

Sergeant Franc Francioni, head of the Holloway Safer Neighbourhood Team, agreed:
“We’ve tried to get to the hard core of the problem, but it’s very difficult. It is a bit like passing the buck, but the flipside is we do nothing, and that’s just not an option.”

Sergeant Francioni said the problem on Market Road had got worse since the King’s Cross regeneration programme began.

“King’s Cross was heavily policed and sex workers have moved through York Way up to Market Street,” he said.

Liberal Democrat Councillor, Marisha Ray, said: “Whilst we don’t want to push them [sex workers] around, there are issues that go beyond prostitution in the area.

“We do work to resolve the problem by targeting support groups who try and tackle drug abuse and other social issues with the prostitutes," she added.

The CCTV camera on Market Road is to be installed by March 2007.