Prostitutes an ‘easy target’ for killers, says Huddersfield criminal psychology expert Helen Gavin

May 31 2010 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

PROSTITUTES are a prime target for would-be serial killers, says a Huddersfield academic.

Helen Gavin, reader in criminal psychology at Huddersfield University, is an expert on multiple murderers.

She said the women were in a vulnerable position because of their lifestyle.

They were also at risk because of the sexual frustrations or misogynistic tendencies harboured by many of the men who set out to kill.

Dr Gavin was speaking after Stephen Griffiths, 40, was charged with the murders of Bradford prostitutes Susan Rushworth, Suzanne Blamires and Shelley Armitage, who used to work in Huddersfield.

She said: “These are the usual victims of serial killers.

“The very nature of their work makes them very vulnerable – an easy target.

“Their job involves being alone with another person who they tend to know very little about apart from that they are willing to pay for sex, which in itself suggests they are not the most upstanding members of society.

“In addition, their social circumstances – very often that they are addicted to drugs – makes them vulnerable.”

She said killers who targeted sex workers often suffered from sexual frustration, sometimes as a result of impotence.

They may also be motivated by hatred of the work prostitutes do.