Women who have been forced into prostitution, lured with the promise of jobs as waitresses and nannies ... what's really happening when buyers visit them is that they are being raped

In the UK this past week, two projects painted very different pictures of prostitution. The more high-profile one was The Secret Diary of a Call Girl, an ITV2 drama that stars Billie Piper as a prostitute who spends her days skipping around in her lingerie, dabbing on make-up and romping happily with her clients - when not chit-chatting with them about palindromes. The reason she works as a prostitute? "I love sex and I love money," she purrs. Of course!

The second project was more downbeat. Throughout the last week of September, an art installation called Journey was set up in Trafalgar Square. It consisted of seven shipping containers, each depicting a different aspect of the experiences of sex-trafficked women. For instance, "Bedroom" was kitted out as, well, a bedroom, complete with sheets covered in a murky palette of stains. There were also two mirrors, one with the scrawled words "Men Per Day" (a tally of 30 clocked up underneath), the other fogged and inscribed with the simple message "Help me".

While Piper's TV show will reach a bigger audience - and will allow people to take heart at the suggestion that prostitution can be a really fun, positive choice for those involved - there's no doubt which of these two projects is actually more relevant. According to government figures, 85 per cent of the women in UK brothels a decade ago were British. Today, that figure has turned inside out, with between 70 and 80 per cent coming from typical source countries such as Moldova, Albania and Nigeria.

It's very difficult to get precise figures for how many women and girls are trafficked here each year, although it's widely accepted that numbers run into the thousands. Prostitution and the trafficking of women is the third most lucrative trade for the global "black market" (after arms and drugs), which is far from surprising, considering the Metropolitan Police's estimate that trafficked women in London are obliged to have sex with between 20 and 30 men a day.

I say "have sex". But, of course, for women who have been forced into prostitution, lured with the promise of jobs as waitresses and nannies - who have never consented to working in a brothel and have often been gang-raped by their captors and locked up - what's really happening when buyers visit them is that they are being raped. Repeatedly. Hundreds of times a week.

The Home Office minister Vernon Coaker acknowledged this in March when he said that any man who knowingly had sex with a trafficked woman should face rape charges. Too right. His assertion was followed last month by news that ministers are considering proposals to criminalise the buying of sex in general. This follows the lead of Sweden, which took that route eight years ago and where the incidence of brothels and sex trafficking has since plummeted.

Another sign that the government is keen to tackle this issue is the news, leaked in the past week, that it is launching a huge anti-trafficking operation, Pentameter II. The first Operation Pentameter took place last year and led to the recovery of 79 "potential victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation".

The "rescue" of these women and girls is noble, but what happens to them next? Studies show that most will be suffering levels of post-traumatic stress similar to those of torture victims. Yet the UK has only one dedicated refuge, the Poppy Project, where trafficked women can get the kind of expert counselling and support that will allow them to start recovering. It has just 35 bed spaces.

In many cases, trafficked women face incarceration in immigration detention or prisons before being sent straight back to the country they came from. Those at risk of violence or retrafficking in their country of origin are supposed to be eligible to make an asylum claim, but without proper support they are unlikely to be successful.

Back in March, the UK signed up to the European Convention Against Trafficking in Human Beings, which now guarantees those who have been trafficked here a stay - a breathing space - of at least 30 days to receive help and support. (Amnesty International suggests we should be aiming for a higher minimum standard of at least 90 days.) The convention also guarantees temporary residence permits for those who face potential danger in their country of origin.

The agreement has so far been signed by 36 of the 46 Council of Europe states, but for it to come into force it needs at least ten states to ratify that commitment. So far, nine have done so. It would be great to see the UK ratify next, as well as make a commitment to the higher minimum standards. After all, until there's a proper infrastructure in place there will always be room for the cynical perspective that operations such as Pentameter I and II are all about trumpeting the government's strong hand on immigration, rather than reflecting genuine concern for the victims of the world's most torturous trade.

Kira Cochrane is women's editor of the Guardian

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