Help us with the Turn off the Blue Lights Campaign - Your comments required urgently

How would criminalising the purchase of sex impact on this industry?

Escorts, clients, others, we need your views!

In connection with our "Turn Off The Blue Light" campaign we need your views of how criminalising the purchase of sex would impact on this industry.

We know there are many reasons why criminalising the purchase of sex is wrong but we need real comments from real Irish escorts explaining how this will make your job more dangerous etc, and from real Irish clients explaining they are not monsters (as some people perceive)and have no desire to pay for sex with trafficked women etc.

We need as many comments as possible to add to our campaign website and would like them by Sunday afternoon so we can collate them and add them to our campaign site for launch on Monday.

All comments can be anonymous if you wish, or you can include a name/location of your choice, like Emma, Limerick or Paddy, Belfast.

Comments can either be posted on this thread, or sent by PM to a manager or sent via filling out our online Contact Form.

This is a really important issue for all of us, and i really do urge you to have your say and help try and make a difference.

Please keep this thread on topic

Thanks all

I'll go first then.
I'm a guy in my mid-twenties living in a very small town in Kerry. I'll admit I'm not the greatest catch but besides that I don't often get the chance to meet or mix with eligible single women. Without the outlet provided by Escorts I would have to give up my decent job, which I'm heavily taxed on, and either move to a larger town/city where I will probably end up unemployed or have to emigrate because of fears for my mental health.
I live in an area with a very high number of suicides among young men who don't have the opportunity to have intimate connections with women, however brief those connections are. I'm not saying that this is the only reason why they do this but I'm afraid that without this outlet I don't know what path I may eventually walk down.
I'm a lonely person but not a monster. The ladies I've spent time with have not been forced to provide they services that they do. And, no matter how lonely I ever get, if I felt that any of the ladies that I visited were under duress I would immediately report this to the authorities, damn the consequences for me.
Its a Saturday night on Valentines weekend and I'm all alone posting on this board. But right now I'm not going to let that get me down because of I've got plans for tomorrow... Thank you E-I, thank you ladies. You may be saving my life.

women and men experience society as sexual opposites.
men may need purchase services sometimes, owing to this contrast.

Hi I have to support your endeavour; I have used escorts now for a good few years and always, always use independent girls. I condone in the strongest manner the exploitation of any women or man for that matter in the area of escorting. Those who partake in this vile activity of trafficing and pimping deserve to suffer the strongest penalties from the courts. I therefore really wish we could be mature and adult about this practice in Ireland and allow women and men who wish to work in this field the freedom and "support" of the state. If it was regulated then people working in it would treated fairly and equally and it would help stamp out the pimps and traffickers to a greater extent. So you have my support for an end to the criminalisation of this occupation for those who choose to work "Freely" in this area. I am based in Dublin.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by warmcome

women and men experience society as sexual opposites.
men may need purchase services sometimes, owing to this contrast.

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Pretty obvious I know but:

Why shouldn't an ordinary man be able to spend time with an independent escort, both should have the basic human right to choose and decide what they do together as consenting adults.

Focus on targetting the traffickers who are controlling women for their own gain.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rodney69

Pretty obvious I know but:

Why shouldn't an ordinary man be able to spend time with an independent escort, both should have the basic human right to choose and decide what they do together as consenting adults.

Focus on targetting the traffickers who are controlling women for their own gain.

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competent supports are in place if an escort was in that situation:

Ruhama | Supporting women affected by prostitution and human tra

Hi, can i request that the thread is kept just for comments that can be quoted, then there is no mistake made about what is used for the webiste.
I see another thread has been created for discussion on this issue.
Thanks
:)

the situation as it is is pretty good for the escorts + the clients at the moment because of WEBSITES LIKE E.I with information ,forum etc . criminalising is going to drive it underground
this can only make it much more dangerous for the escorts the people calling for this are trying to imply that a lot of women are being trafficked as sex workers , there definetly has been people trafficking but it is a very very small minority , in the main this is very rare , the escorts are here for financial, family, reasons by choice , what can possibly be wrong with paying for a service that makes one feel good makes one happy
maakka

I would like to express my concern and objection against the proposed bill to further criminalize the escorting industry. As far as I understand it, the bill is set to criminalize clients seeking sexual services offered by escorts. The proponents of this bill claim that this will stop the unlawful trafficking of women (and children) for forced sexual abuse.

Lets be very clear that human trafficking is unacceptable in any society and should not be toletated. However, I fear that the enactment of this bill will only serve to perpetuate human trafficking for the sex industry.

If one observes any of the main escorting websites available in Ireland, one will note a very high percentage of 'independant' or 'touring' escorts in comparison to similar websites in other countries such as the U.K. Independants are ladies that work for themselves. Touring escorts are those that work for a short time (e.g. a couple if weeks) before leaving the country and maybe returning at some stage in the future for a further stint. A woman works for herself of her own free choice. No pimps or brothel owners are involved. And clearly touring escorts are able to come and go becaue they have the freedom to do so and and not under the enslavement of some human trafficking organisation.

The proponents of this bill claim that it is not possible for any woman to voluntarily choose to work as an escort. In other words she must have been coerced into the profession. This is patronizing to the majority of escorts working in Ireland who do so by their own free will. Again the proponents of this new bill claim the opposite - i.e. that the majority of escorts working in Irleand are trafficked. This is simply unture and has never been backed up by fact.

The " Turn off the red light" campaign works on the principle of cutting off demand as a means to stopping trafficking. Again they are somewaht deluded in this regard. The demand for escorts will always exist in any country. If this bill is enacted, escorting will be driven further underground and will come under the exclusive control of organised crime. The majority of the escorts that work of their own free will, are likely to leave the country. The demand will therefore be catered for by an increased amount of trafficked women by criminal gangs. This will therefore produce the exact opposite effect to what the bill is intended to do. In countries where escorting is legal - it allows for better protection and education of escorts. It has also allowed for greater empowerment on the part of the escorts.

It is my sad conclusion therefore that those behind the "Turn off the Red light campaign" are really anti-prostitution for their own moral grounds rather than truly trying to tackle the element of human trafficking. As mentioned above if this bill is passed it wiill drive the sex industry further underground and increase human trafficking. The proponents of the bill will be quite happy because the industry will just be swept under the carpet.

MM
Dublin

This is a link by Sex Workers in Scotland against the criminalization of clients:

33 Reasons Why the Clients of Sex Workers Should Not Be Criminalised

33 good reason against the proposed bill.