Terrible article from The Independent.
''Currently, it is illegal in Ireland to work as prostitute but there are not restrictions on the purchase of sex''
Aside from the two grammatical errors in this sentence, how accurate is this statement? Adult prostitution is not illegal in either part of Ireland, although there are laws regarding soliciting and brothel keeping. It's also untrue that there are no restrictions on sex buyers. Kerb crawling or buying sex from underage or trafficked individuals is illegal.
As to the effect criminalisation might have on the local industry, the best thing is to look at Sweden and Norway where these laws have been in place for years. Norway recently estimated (and admitted it was only a rough guess) that indoor sex work had decreased by 10% to 20% over the 5 years the law had been in place. Even as a best guess, that indicates that criminalisation has had relatively little effect. Sweden is little better with over 1000 sex workers still operating and human trafficking increasing by the government's own admission.
It would seem unlikely that the Irish results would be much different and the powers that be are well aware of this. The issue is an attempt by various parties to deflect attention from the multiple rapes, abuse and suspicious deaths carried out by the Irish church, to framework a law around misguided moral outrage and to secure longterm funding for inefficient and ineffective 'rescue organisations.'
2014 in Northern Ireland:
Number of reported attacks on sex workers 70
Number of sex trafficking cases ZERO
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FetishCherry