Act ‘pushes women into prostitution’

Section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 is
forcing female asylum seekers into prostitution, campaigners have
warned.

The section denies support to those who fail to make their claim
“as soon as reasonably practicable”.

A spokesperson for the English Collective of Prostitutes said: “We
are meeting women who have been caught by section 55 and are having
to sell sex in order to survive.”

Niki Adams, a member of Legal Action for Women, a free legal
service, said she believed the practice was “widespread”.

A spokesperson for the charity Refugee Action said her organisation
was also aware that some female asylum seekers were going to work
in the sex industry as a result of destitution.