Debate contribution: Adult Services Websites

Debate contribution by Mr Peter Martin on 27 January 2026.

MLA

Mr Peter Martin

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

27 January 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Adult Services Websites

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5345474

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Thank you very much, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. The motion addresses a persistent driver of commercial sexual exploitation in Northern Ireland: the rise of so-called pimping websites. Such websites allow the advertisement and purchase of sexual access to women in a way that mirrors online retail. Individuals can filter searches based on appearance, location and sex act. In allowing them to do so, the websites reduce human beings to commodities and normalise the idea that access to another person's body can be bought on demand. Whilst such sites often present themselves as neutral intermediaries, or even as safeguards for those involved in prostitution, the evidence increasingly points in the opposite direction. The platforms generate substantial income and profit while creating an environment that enables exploitation, shields traffickers from detection and increases demand for sexual services.

Northern Ireland's legislative framework, particularly since 2015, sought to reduce the demand and disrupt the commercial structures that sustain exploitation. Indeed, my DUP party colleague Lord Morrow led the way in opposing and tackling sexual exploitation in Northern Ireland with the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015, creating a significantly more robust framework for confronting the systemic roots of sexual exploitation. I take the opportunity to thank Christian Action, Research and Education NI (CARE NI) for its work and support, both then and to date. However, we must not become complacent. The growth of technology has provided new mechanisms through which commercial sexual exploitation can operate. The link between prostitution, advertising websites and trafficking is now well established. One major concern about pimping websites is the facilitation of human trafficking, which, in itself, is not a new revelation. In 2023, a House of Commons Home Affairs Committee report said:

"Websites advertising prostitution significantly facilitate trafficking for sexual exploitation."

An inquiry into sexual exploitation advertising websites by a cross-party group on commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) also drew extremely worrying conclusions. A detective superintendent who heads Police Scotland's human trafficking unit told the inquiry:

“Adult Services Websites are one of the main facilitators of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation in Scotland and the rest of the UK, and we come across them quite commonly when we are dealing with trafficking inquiries, particularly involving foreign nationals.”

Ruth Breslin from the Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy Institute (SERPI) in the Republic, who came to the event that we had last week, highlighted how pimping websites facilitate those who actively want to take advantage of vulnerable women and girls. She recounted how Escort Ireland encourages those wanting to purchase sex to come to its website to meet a beautiful Ukrainian escort. In the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine, it wrote a blog inviting sex buyers to do exactly that. Such exploitation is highly profitable. It has been alleged that sex traffickers can earn almost €200,000 per year for each woman whom they exploit in the South. Those seeking to exploit women can gain great wealth, and pimping websites are a tool to facilitate that. They embed the idea that a woman's body can be purchased, browsed and rated, and they reinforce attitudes of entitlement and objectification. While some may argue that such platforms often offer safety and autonomy, that fails to take into account the realities of exploitation and the volume of evidence that points towards abuse, coercion and third-party control. Those are not marginal issues confined to a small number of bad actors; they are fundamental to how the sites operate. The motion is not about rhetoric, the debate is not about rhetoric and it is not about revisiting settled debates from the past. It is about recognising that the landscape of exploitation has changed and that our response must duly change with it. Those websites sit at the heart of a system that profits from inequality and vulnerability whilst making enforcement much more difficult and exploitation much more efficient. As I referenced last week, I was proud to host an event in the Long Gallery. I can see the deputy chair of the newly formed all-party group (APG) on modern slavery and sexual exploitation sitting on the Front Bench over there. Alongside CARE NI, we marked over a decade since the Human Trafficking Act came into effect in Northern Ireland. We had a number of notable speakers at the event, and one was the Independent Anti-slavery Commissioner, Eleanor Lyons. Eleanor is conducting research on adult services websites and is passionate about holding them to account. We also recently launched the APG, which will be conducting an inquiry into those pimping websites. If Northern Ireland is serious about preventing exploitation and disrupting those who profit from it, we cannot ignore the role that such platforms play. In my role as chair of the new APG on modern slavery and sexual exploitation, I hope to take forward actions that will impact on their ability to function in Northern Ireland. The motion is a necessary step in acknowledging the reality of the situation that we face and in signalling the Assembly's support for doing something about it. I commend the motion to the House.

858 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:22 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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