Swedish figures overall suggest that the chances of being apprehended as a client are somewhere around 5%.
It does need to be remembered that this is NOT about trafficking. This is about, as Frances Fitzgerald says; ''sending a message.'' Sex work is strongly disapproved by religionists and certain strands of feminism. TORL and Ruhama are well aware of the facts but are also well aware that the public aren't, so by pushing false definitions and statistics, they can benefit from increased funding and influence.
No-one is going to be 'saved' or 'rescued' through client criminalisation. If they were, this would have been agreed in Westminster and Scotland last year instead of being rejected. The USA would have stamped out trafficking and sex work decades ago as their policies against clients are much tougher than anything proposed here. It hasn't worked there or in Sweden and it won't work here.
What it will do though is increase stigma, decrease sex worker safety, deny sex workers rights and raise revenue, some of which will be channeled back to the Magdalenes and various other opportunistic NGOs.
So it will be up to clients to keep themselves safe by being discreet and sensible. Sweden still has large numbers of sex workers after 16 years. Client criminalisation makes things more difficult, but ultimately doesn't stop consenting adults having sex.
2014 in Northern Ireland:
Number of reported attacks on sex workers 70
Number of sex trafficking cases ZERO