Ms Julie Browne:

We have said the women involved in prostitution are not a homogenous group and I do not believe the men are a homogenous group either. They probably vary with regard to the levels of violence they inflict. In a society in which prostitution is legal those men will exist, but in a society where it is not normalised and there is a recognition of the harm caused, they will probably still exist also. However, I argue that the women are safer in a society in which the impact is recognised and they have more chance of exiting and becoming linked with support services. There will always be a hard core, but it is present in each of the scenarios.