ONLY 20 kerb crawlers have been charged with picking up prostitutes for sex in Sheffield over the last five years, The Star can reveal.
A total of 150 sex workers have been prosecuted in the same period, Freedom of Information figures show.
Only two men have been charged with kerb crawling so far this year and last year five men were charged with the offence.
In 2007 four men w
ere charged, in 2006 there were three, and in 2005 there were six.
Over the same period 177 women were arrested on suspicion of loitering for prostitution and 150 were charged.
Supt Peter Norman said: "We are actively tackling the anti-social behaviour problems caused by street sex workers and kerb crawlers.
"The police and partner agencies recognise many vulnerable women fall into the trap of prostitution and we are committed to diverting women away from the criminal justice system and into support services.
"However, street sex workers who habitually commit offences or who engage in criminal activity are arrested and prosecuted. During the last two years, the police have concentrated on discouraging kerb crawlers through arrest operations and a high profile policing presence at key times and locations. This has proved very successful."
But Sali Harwood, of Sheffield Working Women's Opportunity Project which provides support and advice to prostitutes as well as help to leave the industry, said prosecuting prostitutes lands them in debt, forcing them back to the streets to pay off their fines.
"The numbers of women arrested is no surprise, especially over the last couple of years since their traditional working area has been made residential so there is more police activity in the area," she said.
"It has always been the women who are targeted, arrested, found guilty and given hefty fines, or moved on and forced to sign behaviour contracts or threatened with anti-social behaviour orders.
"That means they have to find seedier areas to work, come out later at night, take more risks with punters, and go to ground so no-one knows where they are."
Richard Caborn MP said he was "surprised" by the low number of prosecuted men.
"I will be writing to the Chief Constable to ask him for an explanation - whether it is because the problem is reducing, or whether it is because police are not carrying out as many operations," he said.
City centre councillor Jillian Creasy said:"We should do everything we can to prevent prostitution and this includes cracking down on the punters as well as helping women change their lives."
But city centre councillor Bernard Little said the figures could be misleading.
"More recently the policy when catching kerb crawlers has been to warn the men caught that their spouse will be informed," he said. "The police have said this has been a very effective way of scaring them from coming back.
"This may indicate there is more activity going on against the men using prostitutes than is actually highlighted by the figures."
But he said there should be more support for women to help them out of prostitution.
Buy The Star - Monday to Saturday - for local news, sport, features and ads. To subscribe CLICK HEREREAD MOREMain news indexYour lettersFeaturesSouth Yorkshire's environmental newsKids ZoneMore business newsMore Rotherham newsMore Doncaster newsMore Barnsley newsLatest sport
