Nigel Hastilow: Porn, prostitution and prudishness

In the Victorian era, they used to cover up piano legs and yet, in London, one house in 60 was a brothel.

That's a lot of prudishness and extra-marital hanky-panky.

On the one hand, as the 'Express & Star' has revealed in the 'Sex in the Suburbs' series this week, prostitution, dogging and all kinds of sleazy activities are taking place on our very doorsteps (literally, in some cases).

On the other hand, the quaint and old-fashioned young fogies at Staffordshire University have decided to ban 'The Sun' newspaper from their campus shops because of the topless Page 3 girls.

This is a curious piece of prudishness, given that there are far more obscene and demeaning images available at the click of a computer mouse.

By comparison, the traditional Page 3 girl is more innocent and less saucy than an old-fashioned seaside postcard.

Getting angry about the way such pictures supposedly demean women is like an anti-war protestor complaining about the evils of the bow and arrow in the era of nuclear weapons.

The battles over Page 3 were fought and lost a couple of decades ago. If these students are so easily shockable then let's hope none of them has an internet connection.

What is more concerning is the all-pervasive nature of sex. Some of the activities described in this paper over the past few days, and quite probably the people involved in them, are simply vile.

The internet has made life so much easier for sick perverts, exhibitionists and others who want to exploit their own, and other people's, worst fantasies. In such a seamy world, it is no wonder prostitution thrives on every street corner.

It's curious, though, that the law still hounds the world's oldest profession.

While kerb-crawling and soliciting sex on the street are clearly anti-social, selling your body isn't actually illegal though keeping a brothel is.

We really should sort this out. Whether or not you approve of people buying and selling sex, these transactions will never be eradicated. So why not legalise and control them?

Brothels should be legalised. We should designate red-light districts well away from residential areas where prostitutes must have regular health checks, and they and their customers would be free of intimidation and pimping.

Legalisation should also prevent the trafficking of women as sex slaves. At the moment, because prostitution is basically illegal, it is difficult to protect its victims from the gangs forcing them into this trade.

We could even tax the trade – maybe the revenue could go to those local authorities prepared to designate a red light district in their area.

All a new brothel would need was planning permission, giving elected councillors the chance to veto them entirely or in particular locations.

Admittedly my personal experience of this twilight world is confined to strolling round the Red Light District of Amsterdam as a gob-smacked 17-year-old. I didn't know where to look and was both appalled and fascinated by what was on offer.

It's likely legalised brothels would be a boost for local economies, attract tourists and keep some of the worst aspects of the sex industry away from the rest of us.

It's true that pornography and the sex industry do demean women.

In some cases, the women themselves claim it is empowering and allows them to earn more money than they could otherwise. That doesn't make it acceptable.

While on the one hand I think brothels should be legalised, I also believe we should be doing far more to stop the easy availability of pornography on the internet.

Not many years ago, images which are now available to anyone – children included – via Google would have led to prosecutions for obscenity.

In our desire to leave the internet uncensored, we seem to have abandoned any idea that some things still corrupt and deprave.

The easy availability of hard-core porn on the internet has already been directly linked to a series of murders and rapes. There is no doubt it is rotting our civilisation.

Teenagers brought up in this age of porn can't possibly hope to enjoy the sort of loving relationships we would once have assumed to be the norm.

Without knowing it, their views and expectations are being drastically perverted. Yet the Government does nothing to stop this.

It's claimed websites come and go so fast, and are often based abroad, it's impossible to track them down and take action against the owners.

So why not prosecute the internet service providers? On the face of it, companies like BT, Virgin, TalkTalk and the rest are living off immoral earnings and distributing obscene material.

The internet service providers are no better than the sleazy sex shops of yesteryear which were regularly raided by the vice squad, closed down and their owners jailed.

Where is Mary Whitehouse when you need her?