Responding to the Government’s report of its review of the 2017 law criminalising the purchase of sex published today, Amnesty Ireland expressed disappointment that it was a missed opportunity. It called on the new Government and Minister for Justice to respect the actual evidence and decriminalise the consensual exchange of sexual services between adults.
“As our ground-breaking research report made plain over three years ago, the law here in Ireland forces sex workers to live in a violent system. It facilitates their abuse and exploitation, and increases stigma. Gardaí have become a threat as they try to pursue clients to arrest, and are failing to protect sex workers. It is therefore frustrating to see this review recommend pursuit of an ideologically driven model proven time and time again to harm sex workers. This law was introduced on the unfounded premise that it would protect human trafficking victims and sex workers from exploitation. It has very clearly done neither,” said Stephen Bowen, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland.
The 2017 Act was progressed despite evidence from other countries that a sex buyer criminalisation approach forces sex workers to take more risks with clients as they avoid the police, putting their lives and safety in jeopardy. It was adopted without meaningful consultation with sex workers and despite the dearth of information on sex workers and their experiences and needs here in Ireland.
“While welcome, the review’s recommendations on research, data collection and analysis to improve understanding of sex work in Ireland and the impact of this law are a decade late. That is precisely what we recommended when this law was first mooted. This was ignored and today there is no baseline against which this now five-year-overdue review could measure impact. Additionally there was little engagement or consultation with sex workers during the review. As a result, there is no evidence base for much of what is claimed or proposed.”
Amnesty also pointed out that evidence shows that Ireland’s criminalisation model has also worsened existing inequalities experienced by sex workers.
“Decisions to sell sex can be influenced by poverty, marginalisation, migration status, drug use or other factors linked to systemic discrimination. One of the reasons given by sex workers we interviewed was lack of affordable housing – sex work was keeping a roof over their and their families’ heads. These are the issues Government should be addressing if it genuinely wants no one to have to engage in sex work because they have no other options.
“It is disappointing too that little attention is paid to the harm caused by other loosely defined offences retained by the 2017 Act. For instance, the ‘brothel keeping’ offence prevents sex workers from working together to ensure their own safety, and leaves them vulnerable to exploitation, eviction and homelessness. The criminal law should instead be directed at those who exploit or coerce sex workers and commit violence against them, or who engage in or facilitate child exploitation or human trafficking.
“Criminalising those who buy sex is no solution. To continue to pretend otherwise is a dereliction of the Government’s duty. We call on the new Minister for Justice to decriminalise the consensual exchange of sexual services between adults, and remove third party offences not involving abuse, coercion or exploitation. This will allow Garda resources to be directed at real violence, not surveilling and harassing sex workers.”
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