Does high debt prompt women to turn to the world’s oldest profession?  Some guy at Urban Outreach thinks so, but doesn’t offer anything except the most general anecdotal evidence. Take it with a few grains of salt.

Read the whole story at The Bolton News.

Girls ‘turning to prostitution’ as credit crunch bites

GIRLS are coming to the red light district and selling sex to pay off debts as the credit crunch bites, a leading Bolton charity claims.

Dave Bagley has run Urban Outreach in Salop Street, Bolton, for 20 years.

It is based in the centre of Bolton’s red light area and helps women escape from the sex industry.

Mr Bagley said the overwhelming majority of women and girls who get caught up in prostitution are addicted to drugs and have often been abused as children. However, the charity also deals with girls who are not drug addicts but are desperately in debt.

And they are seeing an increase in such cases as a result of the recession and rising unemployment.

“Certainly, we have seen people who have been forced to come down and turn a couple of tricks just to keep the wolf from the door,” he said.

“They are not here for long. It’s not a chosen lifestyle, it’s just to pay the rent, to keep their children fed.”

He added: “Things are more expensive, there’s no hope of getting a job. It’s a trap they are in.”

Mr Bagley said there would often be an increase in the number of girls visiting the area over Christmas.

But he said help was available and urged girls trapped by debt to seek assistance before turning to the streets.