Women 'auctioned' at airports

2006-06-04 22:18

London - Foreign women are being auctioned off for prostitution in public places in Britain such as airports, said the crown prosecution service (CPS) on Sunday.

"Criminal activity at the UK's airports is on the increase," said the CPS's director in west London, Nazir Afzal.

"We are now seeing slave auctions being held in public places at airports where brothel keepers are bidding for women destined for prostitution."

A spokesperson for the CPS said one such auction was held recently in front of a cafe in the arrivals hall at Gatwick Airport, south of London.

Other sales had taken place in the London airports of Heathrow and Stansted, and at other British airports, he said.

The CPS, which hosts a conferenceon Monday on crime in airports, says the people to whom traffickers are selling the young women as they arrive in Britain, often come from eastern European countries.

The most-recent government figures show that, five years ago, 1 400 women were working as prostitutes in quasi-slavery in Britain.

- AFP