Beth was a bright and bubbly young girl who lived with her parents in a large city in the south of England. She says she came from an ordinary, caring and loving, large family with strict parents, and that she was a typically rebellious teenager.

When Beth was 15, she met an older man, Y, who became her pimp. She had only known him a few weeks when he took her to London and told her to get out of the car and make him some money. The relationship quickly deteriorated and Beth was forced to work as a prostitute in a sauna owned by a friend of Y's (even though she was still only 15).

In the meantime, Beth's parents were frantic with worry. Her father remembers: ‘I had walked the streets hoping I could see her and persuade her to come home. This was the time the Yorkshire Ripper was at large and our lives became a living nightmare.’

Beth's father involved both social services and the police. To his horror, social services implied that he had abused Beth, and Beth's sisters who were still living at home were questioned. To his knowledge, Beth's older ‘boyfriend’ was never investigated for any offences.

Beth was placed in care and was also put into secure accommodation. Her father is severely critical of these placements: ‘The girls had youths and men prowling around and in some cases entering the premises. Cigarettes, drugs and alcohol were readily available. This often led them to abscond.’Beth herself remembers that her pimp was allowed to visit her and on one occasion turned up with a bunch of flowers for her.

When Beth reached 16, the agencies’ attempts to help her stopped. There followed seven years of prostitution. Beth was forced to work on the streets and in saunas. She was regularly beaten by her pimp and abused by punters.

Beth finally managed to escape her pimp after a severe beating when he left her for dead. She was hospitalised for six weeks. During this time she reassessed her life and became determined to rebuild her future away from prostitution.

Beth has been out of prostitution for seven years and is a strong and confident young woman. She is reunited with her family and at last feels that she has a future to look forward to.