Just after I first read this thread, I came across some figures in the paper about the johns. It was in reference to the case from Ipswich. Apparently about 11% of men in the UK use, or have used, prostitutes. Of these, the majority are married men, often with children.

I don't know the methodology of the collection of these figures.

It raises, however, the question of why they feel the need - a friend has suggested they were not getting the sort of sex at home they wanted, but that raises the question of why that was, as well.

It also raises the question of the other victims. The wife is at risk of infection. The family as a unit is losing resources which arguably belong to it. Money which is spent on a prostitute is not being spent on the family, is it? These men are cheats and adulterers, whose understanding of marriage is as flawed as their understanding of women as human beings rather than chattels.

The other men, who are not in relationships for various reasons, are often held up as the reason for the need for the supply of sex for payment, are the few, and should not be used to excuse those who are in relationships.

Penny