Please write in to Metro Herald letters to protest about criminalising clients!

[BootSlick55]

another negative article in the Irish Times today.

"the women involved have no real choice," "tonight, 1000+ women are on sale on the internet all over Ireland." (paraphrasing)

such loaded arguments, sophistry of the highest order.

Why do they insist that 'escort' always equals 'trafficked victim'? In reality I imagine this is true about 0.1% of the time. (a % that should of course be helped/traffickers prosecuted etc). Maybe I am naively wide of the mark.

What is their definition of 'trafficked' I wonder. Why have the police both here and in GB stated that there is little 'sex trafficking' as a normal person would understand the term.

I am guessing that most escorts are economic migrants, i.e. they work here at their chosen profession for the money, primarily.

[mellors]

I agree 100 percent, but there is a lot of kneejerk argumentation, and I was just positing one of these arguments.

All I was trying to say (ok, clumsily I admit) that even if it worked in Sweden, that it would not necessarily work here.

I don't want to take this important issue of topic or get into a discussion about the criminality of the use of drugs, but i feel some of the arguements put forward apply equally to the topic under discussion, ie when authorities try to criminalise certain public behaviour .
Anyone who walks round with there eyes open or who find themselves in social situations will know that recreational and habitual drug taking is widespread. When the subject is raised there is always a section of society who will throw their hands up in hysterical horror. Authorities throughout the world have spent billions of dollars on prevention and failed miserably. Occassionally a large drugs haul will hit the headlines and we can all sleep happily in our beds in the knowledge that it is under control. The reality of course is any seizure is a tiny % of what's getting through. The authorities themselves don't even know the true scale of the business, why?, because it is forced underground and totally unregulated. It's the criminal gangs who run the drugs business.
As I say I don't want to muddy the waters by linking the two distinct topics, I certainly urge you not to put this in your letter to the Metro !! it will only give them another stick to beat us with, the good old arguement that escorts do it to feed their drug habit headline.
Remember kids...just say no

[Jasmin]

I just read Kevin Myers’s column and I have to say I am surprised of someone writing his view in opposite direction of the “majority”, he can be prepared for a lot of criticism.
I especially liked the following paragraph:

“Well, since every single aspect of this -- the kidnapping, the mass-rape, the forcible prostitution -- is already both against the law and comprehensively evil, why is another law needed? And anyway, most of his allegations are fable. A police survey in Britain was unable to find one single authentic case in which a foreign girl had been forcibly trafficked into the country for prostitution against her will. Allegations of kidnap and rape there have usually been made by illegal-immigrants in order to substantiate asylum-seeking claims.”

A new Law would, in my opinion, just give to society a false impression that something is being done in order to restrain human trafficking/ sexual exploitation.

Ruhama has available their annual report 2009, and in that year they had 26 new cases of women trafficked in Ireland. I am not saying that those 26 women are not important, if there was one person, it would be too many, I just point out the number of women advertising only on E-I. Seems to me that most women in this business in Ireland are in it for their own choice (what made them choose it?, I can’t say but it seems that nobody is willing to listen anyway, they already have a pre-conception about it)

It is not taken into consideration opinions other than what “they” decide is correct, what was said in Sweden "Based on a gender equality and human rights perspective . . . the distinction between voluntary and non-voluntary prostitution is not relevant." There is a big difference between someone doing something according to their own free will and being forced to do.

I personally don’t believe in the altruistic nature of this new Law . The ones that have acknowledgement of paying someone who is being forced to engage in prostitution should be penalised and the traffickers but not tar everyone with the same brush.

Due the nature of the business, to protect our own privacy, neither escorts or clients will stand up and express their thoughts publicly. We can voice our opinion but it will be a faceless voice and it will be hardly heard, I am afraid.

[Ric Hardgear]

well said jasmin ,congrats on a superb post