A WI Lady's Guide To Brothels

The programme

Last year Middle England met the sex trade head-on when the Hampshire WI emerged as an unlikely champion of the reform of prostitution laws and members Jean Johnson and Shirley Landels led their 7,000-strong membership to advocate the legalisation of brothels in Britain.

Now investigative journalist Nicky Taylor joins forces with the ladies of the Hampshire WI on a journey to find out what makes a best practice brothel, how the laws need to change to create it and whether it's possible to set up the UK's first legal brothel.

Jean and Shirley embark on a global mission to investigate the effects that the laws elsewhere have on prostitution. In Amsterdam they experience what it feels like to work in a window brothel; they continue their search for brothel nirvana by joining the line-up in one of Nevada's licensed sex ranches; and experience the luxury of an upmarket self-run prostitution co-op in New Zealand.

Meanwhile back at home Nicky immerses herself in the industry to experience the reality of life for women working on the streets and in an illegal brothel, to see for herself how vulnerable are the lives of the 12,000 sex workers in the UK. She works on an X-rated phone line, talks to lap dancers in licensed clubs, lends a helping hand as a prostitute's maid and causes a stir by posing as a prostitute in a Winchester shop window.

Finally, armed with their newly-acquired sex education, Jean and Shirley return home where they are reunited with Nicky. Together they create and road-test their version of the perfect brothel on the streets of Hampshire before taking it to Westminster and Downing Street.

A WI Lady's Guide To Brothels | The programme | The people | Brothels visited | Perfect brothel | Pictures | The law in the UK | What do you think? | Find out more

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