WOMEN’S RIGHTS campaigners were left frustrated today after being told they must wait months for a court ruling on their challenge to a law requiring former prostitutes to disclose past soliciting convictions.

The judge said that they needed more time to mull the case over before coming to a decision.

Nia, which supports women who are victims of violence, said on Twitter: “So now we — and more importantly, the women claimants — must wait. Again. Getting this far has taken years.”

The case against the current law was brought by a group of women who were all trafficked within Britain while under the age of 18 and forced into prostitution.

They argue that it is unlawful for past soliciting convictions to be stored and disclosed to potential employers.

One woman said she still had to explain her criminal record 20 years after escaping prostitution, while another claimed she was treated “like a sex offender.”

Nordic Model Now, which campaigns for the abolition of prostitution, said: “The convictions present a significant barrier to exiting prostitution but the shame and stigma should fall on these men instead.”

The group pointed out that convictions for pimping and sex trafficking are “shockingly low.”

It supports the Nordic Model approach to prostitution, which imposes tough penalties on pimps and traffickers, and makes buying sex a criminal offence, in a bid to reduce the demand for sex trafficking.