Women's Institue Legalising Prostitution

Women's Institute members have scoured Hampshire's streets and brothels on a campaign to legalise brothels in the county.

Women from Hampshire WI group "kerb-crawled" through Southampton streets as well as visiting some of the county's estimated 600 brothels to see the "horrendous" working conditions for prostitutes.

The women were so shocked at what they found they have launched a campaign to highlight the plight of Hampshire's prostitutes.

As part of their campaign the women have also travelled around the world to investigate prostitution in other countries.

The movement has been spearheaded by WI member and advisor Jean Johnson, and has won the support of more than 7,000 WI members nationwide.

The WI Guide To Brothels, C4, August 3, 10pm

WI members will go on a whirlwind tour of some of the world's brothels in a new Channel 4 documentary.

Hampshire WI members Jean Johnson and Shirley Landels met the working girls in a licensed Bunny Ranch brothel in Nevada and visited a upmarket prostitution co-operative in New Zealand.

On their return they try to create a version of the perfect British brothel.

The documentary The WI Guide To Brothels is part of a Women's Institute campaign calling for the legalisation of brothels in Britain and the reform of prostitution laws.

It's been made with investigative journalist Nicky Taylor who in the film talks to women who sell their bodies on British streets and work in illegal brothels.

Nicky also talks to lap dancers, helps a prostitute's maid, mans an X-rated phone sex line and tries to sell her body in a Winchester shop window.

In Auckland, the ladies accompanied an inspector to the "gentleman's retreat" Purely Blue brothel and said: It was lovely.

And at the Bonton, a boutique-style venue in a suburban house, workers had degrees and professional jobs.

Magnificent, was the verdict from the British visitors: Very discreet, no one would know what was happening. What I liked was there were two girls there, which provided safety for each other. It's what they call a small owner-operated brothel. And the hours were so civilised - 10am to 7pm Monday to Friday. Just like a regular job, really.

The pair said it was a perfect model for a British brothel: clean, safe and not seedy in the least.

Comment: Purely Blue

From Donald

This is the brothel they talk about
the Purely Blue Brothel in Auckland, New Zealand,
 
NZ$120 for 30mins  is £45
interesting, they have their own coffee brand!

See also Auckland's brothels receive rave reviews in new Brit documentary

Hampshire members of the Women's Institute say they are in shock after their fight to legalise brothels was rejected by their national body.

In a major blow to their high-profile campaign, the National Federation of Women's Institutes did not include decriminalising prostitution on a shortlist of issues to debate at next year's AGM.

The announcement came as Hampshire WI mourns the death of stalwart Shirley Landels who led the fight with fellow member Jean Johnson. The 73-year-old grandmother, who earlier this year trawled the world's brothels to highlight the plight of working girls, died suddenly on October 3

Mrs Johnson last night vowed to continue the battle they started last October: I honestly don't know why it was rejected. It's really, really disappointing, but the campaign continues. It might have been too risqué for them, but I found the list of six proposed resolutions peculiar because Government is already taking action on some of those issues. The purpose of a resolution is to have an informed debate. We called for the decriminalisation of prostitution – which is actually something you can debate.

The controversial proposal was knocked back earlier this month by a panel of 23 WI members who represented different counties scattered throughout the country.

The motion – to make a safe and legal working environment for prostitutes and stop it from being driven underground – received almost unanimous backing from Hampshire's 7,000 members and sparked a media frenzy.

The campaign was the subject of a Channel 4 documentary in August after a television production company took Mrs Johnson and Mrs Landels on a round-the-world, fact-finding mission.