Prostitution and the law

A chara, – If all the jobs in Ireland that were boring or undermined the dignity of the person were banned, as Senator Ivana Bacik urges for sex service providers, the unemployment figures would sky-rocket ("Ireland should adopt a ban on purchase of sex", Opinion & Analysis, November 7th). We have laws in place that should be vigorously enforced to deal with cases of violence and forced sex. Consensual sex between two adults in private should not be a criminal offence, whether or not money is involved. – Is mise,

MARTIN G PADGETT,

Toronto, Canada.

Sir, – The enthusiasm of many for the criminalisation of human behaviour very often defies common sense. The views expressed by Ivana Bacik are worrying and would seem closer to the American fundamentalist Christian right than to a progressive European position.

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In a 2010 report, the UN special rapporteur on the right to health, Anand Graver, called upon states “to repeal all laws criminalising sex work and practices around it, and to establish appropriate regulatory frameworks within which sex workers can enjoy the safe working conditions to which they are entitled”.

The report goes on to say that “the trafficking and enforced sexual slavery of any person is abhorrent, and undoubtedly merits criminal prohibition. However, the conflation of consensual sex work and sex trafficking in such legislation leads to, at best, the implementation of inappropriate responses that fail to assist either of these groups in realising their rights and, at worst, to violence and oppression.”

Furthermore, the report of the UNAIDS Advisory Group on HIV and Sex Work, published in 2011, is very critical of methods such as the Swedish model, stating “Stigma and discrimination within society results in repressive laws, policies and practices against sex work, and the economic disempowerment of sex workers. Policies and programmes to reduce the demand for sex work . . . ignoring the voices of sex workers, often result in unintended harms including increased HIV risk and vulnerability for sex workers and their clients, and diverting attention from protecting sex workers’ rights. The frequent failure of policymakers, religious leaders and society to distinguish sex work from human trafficking has sometimes led to involuntary displacement, harassment or detention of sex workers.”

Referring specifically to the Swedish model, the report notes, “In Sweden and Norway, the buying of sex is criminalised, an approach based on the idea that the client may merit punishment, but the sex worker is a ‘victim’. There is very little evidence to suggest that any criminal laws related to sex work reduce demand for sex or the number of sex workers. Rather, all of them create an environment of fear and marginalisation for sex workers, who often have to work in remote and unsafe locations to avoid arrest of themselves or their clients.”

Instead of eliminating prostitution, the unintended consequences of adopting the Swedish model in Ireland are likely to see sex work being driven further underground, an increase in the risks for the women and men who sell sex, and increased difficulties for them in accessing health services.

For some, sex work is their only source of income and their means of providing for their families. Criminalising their clients will put these sex workers at increased risk of poverty, and lead to further stigmatisation and marginalisation.

Symbolic laws are a folly that Ireland cannot afford, especially when the health and safety of women are at stake. – Yours, etc,

MICK WALLACE, TD,

Wellington Bridge,

Co Wexford.

Sir, – Considering the amount of talk about women being trafficked into Ireland there would seem to be a conspicuous absence of actual numbers; we are being bombarded with statistics and percentages but without being told how many people are actually involved. Changing the law is and should be a very serious matter, if we are to do this then I think we should be fully informed of the true extent of the problem that we are being told exists. I doubt if I am alone in thinking that there is something wrong in bringing in a law that would appear to be for the sole purpose of criminalising men who engage in the purchase of sex; it’s a little like only prosecuting someone who buys illegal drugs but allowing the drug dealer go scot free. – Yours, etc,

AIDAN COYLE,

Dalkey, Co Dublin.

A chara, – Ivana Bacik makes it clear that the majority of women involved in prostitution would rather not be and that the trade is inherently exploitative. Additionally, she underscores the fact that the easier it is to purchase sex the more likely it is that women will be coerced or trafficked into this industry; too much money is involved for it to be otherwise. There is nothing consensual about those women’s involvement; they are raped repeatedly every day for the gratification and profit of others. Anything that acts to alleviate their misery is to be welcomed, even if it makes life more difficult for those who say they are involved by choice and those who feel they can purchase the bodies of others for sex in a respectful and non-exploitative way. – Is mise,

Rev PATRICK G BURKE,

Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.