Mick Hartley

With “Bells”, the controversial play on Muslim brothels, set to open tomorrow, Maureen Paton takes a look at these “mujra” clubs, and their part in the South Asian sex trade:

Political correctness, paradoxically, meant that until relatively recently the police and other organisations were wary of tackling problematic issues within the close-knit Asian community, effectively leaving it to police itself until the statistics for such horrific crimes as honour killings and forced marriages led to a shift in attitude. “Multicultural thinking has been about non-intervention,” says Siddiqui [Hannana Siddiqui, of West London’s Southall Black Sisters, a campaigning Asian feminist group].

“The problem of Asian women being involved in prostitution is far more hidden than other types of sex industry or trafficking. Maybe it’s because there are fewer or because it’s extremely shameful in most Asian communities, so the women are extra-vigilant in keeping quiet about it because it brings so much dishonour to the family.

“These brothels are very discreet and haven’t got into the sauna business yet, as other prostitution networks have. But it’s rubbish to say that all Muslims have higher sexual morals than white Britons. It’s like any community, any religion — you have people with high moral standards who live by them, but you also have plenty of people who are hypocrites.

“A lot of men are not living by the standards they try to set for women or others in the community; there are a lot of double standards going on. In Bradford, when there were vigilante actions against white prostitutes, the local Asian population was saying: ‘We don’t want these women on our streets.’ But it turned out that some of the Asian men were having sexual relations with the women. This is all down to hypocrisy — and male patriarchy.”