Originally Posted by
JAMESCORK
The government of Ireland will hold referendums on 22 May 2015 on two proposed amendments to the Constitution of Ireland. The amendments, which were among those recommended by the Constitutional Convention, would reduce the age of candidacy for the President of Ireland from 35 to 21, and permit same-sex marriage.
Imagine they included a third referendum worded: "Should it be illegal for a man/woman to purchase sex... Yes/No.
How do you think that referendum would fair?
I think this question can be compared to the proposed future UK referendum on EU membership -- everyone has an opinion but very few actually know the facts.
And the problem with sex work is there are so many facts and so many lies, so many vested interests and so many different experiences.
Unless they're directly involved as a buyer or seller, or know someone who is, the public can only go by what they're told in the media. And three years ago I was as ignorant as anyone. I thought in terms of pimps, drugs and desperate women, straight out of TV cop shows and crap films. That changed completely on my very first visit to a SW and many bookings later, that impression hasn't changed.
But that is the side the public never see. Instead they get horror stories, harrowing images, ridiculous statistics and downright lies. Yes sex work has it's bad side and a good analogy is the aviation industry. If flying was a minority experience and the public only heard about plane crashes and people who had a pathological fear of flying, they'd form a very negative opinion. Both sides need to be heard and most importantly, sex workers themselves need to be heard, fear of the truth being the main reason they're generally excluded from any law making process.
In the case of a referendum, the question asked would need to be a fair one.
''Since most sex workers are there by choice and as there are already laws in place against trafficking, rape and violence, do you feel that consenting adults should be allowed to have sex if money is involved?'' is a potential referendum question that TORL and Ruhama would shit several bricks over.
Even more bricks would be shat if the actual facts on local SW were put on a leaflet and dropped through everyone's letterbox. A recent incident indicates that Ruhama are well aware that the reality of SW here bears no resemblance to their propaganda campaign. If the truth became widely available, their funding would disappear and they'd have to admit they'd been filling the public a pile of crap instead of compensating the Magdalene victims.
Give the public the true facts and a referendum on SW would be well worth having. Just don't hold your breath.
2014 in Northern Ireland:
Number of reported attacks on sex workers 70
Number of sex trafficking cases ZERO