East London parents demand action after children 'caught swapping fly-tipped erotic massage cards like football stickers'

One of the cards that have been fly-tipped
Ellena Cruse26 October 2019

East London parents are demanding urgent action after finding out primary school pupils are swapping fly-tipped erotic massage cards like football stickers.

After a police crackdown to disrupt street prostitution in Ilford, hundreds of flyers advertising the sex workers' services have been dumped on the streets in recent weeks.

The cards show provocative shots of scantily clad women along with their contact details.

One mother-of-two, who spoke to the Standard on condition of anonymity, said: "I was horrified when I found out my son had these cards.

Hundreds of flyers advertising the sex workers' services have been dumped on the streets in recent weeks

"He was collecting them like football stickers with complete innocence, which made it even more heartbreaking.

"How do I explain to my son that he should not pick them up without telling him they are adverts for sex, and that there are men out there who actually pay to touch women's bodies?"

Another mother-of-one said: "These cards open a massive can of worms.

"I should be able to go out for dinner without getting awkward questions about the half-naked women on the cards.

One of the cards

"I don't want my daughter to think that it is normal to see these cards, that women are objects that can be traded for fun."

Ruthba Amin, from community group Clean Up Ilford Lane, said that as soon as Redbridge Council remove the cards, another pile tends to be dumped in another road.

She said: "At their peak, the cards could be described as confetti on the floor.

"We’ve had several complaints from parents advising they have seen young teenage boys picking up the 'dirty massage cards' and putting them in their pockets."

Redbridge Council said it is tasking enforcement officers with shutting the sex houses down.

But it also claimed the fly-tipping of the cards is a sign its joint collaboration with police to tackle street prostitution is working.

Cllr Kam Rai, the town hall's deputy leader, told the Standard: "It is like that whack-a-mole game: you stop it one way and it comes up in another.

"We are being effective in reducing on-street prostitution, we are harming their business, so they are forced to operate in different ways.

"We have been on a journey in Ilford where we used to have 30 to 40 sex workers and we have driven it right down - we have done our part in moving them off the streets."

The council also said it is exploring legal ways of "going after" printing businesses who make the call cards.

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