Selling sex "aiding and abetting"..

[Prickly]

Michael McDowell has written a fairly damning opinion piece on the Sexual Offences Bill in todays Sunday Business Post. In it he not only points out the flaws in the Bill but points out that Fitzgerald wants to rush "her trophy legislation" through the Seanad next week so she can impress the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. She's obviously not expecting any delays - the Bill is up for debate on Tuesday and she's heading the delegation in Geneva on Wednesday. He points out that 80% of the present Seanad haven't debated the Bill because it started out there before the last election, and that to rush it through in an afternoon is "scandalous".

He also makes some interesting points on the law from a purely legal point of view. He calls the criminalisation of purchasing sexual services a "blackmailers charter", but that's probably the intention in the first place.

More importantly he points out a serious flaw in the legislation which could mean that sex workers could end being charged with an offence even though the new law decriminalises the act of selling sexual services. By selling their services sex workers could be seen as "aiding and abetting" the committing of an offence by the client and could be charged along with them. (Criminal Justice Administration Act 1914). As this would effectively criminalise even indoor sex workers who work alone you'd have to wonder if it is an oversight or deliberate.

But none of this is very surprising when you consider that Fitzgerald thinks making sex work more dangerous is a "good deterrent" to entry into the industry.