Jam, Jerusalem And Prostitutes

She said many of these sex workers are trafficked into this country and forced into prostitution.

Look at the adverts in your local newspaper. They advertise women for sale for sex. Many are young women from eastern Europe, from Africa or south-east Asia, tricked and trafficked into this country and forced into prostitution.

Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman, Minister for Women

However, representatives of the UK's estimated 80,000 prostitutes say Ms Harman is grossly exaggerating the problem in order to launch an anti-immigration message - and a moral crusade.

Niki Adams, of the English Collective Of Prostitutes, told Sky News Online: "It's appalling, it's absolutely terrible what Harriet Harman is saying.

"It's ten times safer for women to work together in a house than on the street.

"And local newspapers are one of the few ways women have to advertise. This sort of thing will force them out on to the streets - is that what the WI wants?"

She added: "The Government has fabricated the trafficking figures to make it appear worse.

"They are putting together violence and prostitution. We know the difference between consensual sex and rape.

"We don't glamorise prostitution - it's not the job most of us wanted to get into - but it's better than some jobs."

She praised a recent report by Hampshire WI, which called for the decriminalisation of brothels in the wake of the Ipswich prostitute murders.

The group interviewed sex workers in New Zealand, America, and the Netherlands and passed a resolution "urging local authorities to provide safe working spaces for the operation of brothels".

But Pat Marshall, chairman of Hampshire WI, held back on criticising Ms Harman.

"We are waiting to see what Harriet Harman has to say and will think about that in the light of our resolution," she told Sky News Online.

But a spokeswoman for the national group said members would be encouraged to look out for adverts and write letters of complaint to editors if they found them.

If our members find the adverts, we ask them to write to the paper and report back to us so we can collate the results. We want our members to raise awareness of the damage that carrying these adverts can have on the lives of trafficked women and girls.

Isla Arendell, a leading member of the WI

The Government has unveiled a number of proposed new laws in its crackdown on the sex industry.

They include rape charges for men who pay for a prostitute who has been forcibly trafficked into the country, and the naming and shaming of kerb crawlers in local newspapers.