THE dangerous world of prostitution in Newport has been uncovered as part of a new documentary following the women trying to escape the sex industry.

Filmmakers Chris Rushton and Tracy Harris' documentary, Selling Sex to Survive, looks at the brothels and streets of Newport, Cardiff and Swansea and what drives women to turn to prostitution.

The duo had the help of Newport-based charity Women In Need, which offers support to girls working in prostitution, to track down and speak to the women affected.

Mr Rushton, of Cardiff, said: "The whole idea was to find out what was on our doorstep.

"The portrayal of prostitution in the media generally is quite simplified and doesn't actually give an accurate portrayal of the lives of these girls.

"We wanted to know, how do they live their lives, what drove them into it, what's it like, are they trapped and those are the big questions.

"They want to get out of it but didn't know how or they would say 'I'll get out of it when we've got some money'.

"Once you're in it you're trapped, they might get a criminal record and then how can they get a job?"

Mr Rushton said that because the women were caught up in drugs, "consequently they live quite chaotic lives".

One of this issues facing the filmmakers was how dangerous the industry can be.

"Trust was a big thing, it took a long time to gain that trust," Ms Harris said. "We built up trust with the girls and made sure they knew what we were trying to do."

Mr Rushton added that charities such as Women In Need who try to keep the women safe by handing out condoms and warning them of dangerous people in Newport, make a "massive improvement" to their lives.

"It's a life and death situation for a lot of these women", he added.

The filmmakers said that after gaining their trust, the women would open up and give their back stories.

Mr Rushton said: "The most shocking back story was someone in a good family home but a number of events in the family triggered a breakdown and she turned to drugs."

"She had a good life but this and that happened, it's one of those things that make you think, it could happen to anyone," added Ms Harris.

Speaking of the dangerous situations the pair found themselves in, Mr Rushton said: "We did get quite anxious at times, there was one time we made friends with a particular young prostitute, it kind of got a little bit scary that there were drug dealers trying to keep her where she was. She was definitely being physically abused, we knew that this was going on.

"The drug dealers started to be very worried about what we were doing."

Selling Sex to Survive will be shown on BBC One Wales at 10.40pm on Tuesday, March 10.