Garda crackdown - Clients of prostitutes real culprits

In a determined effort to crack down on prostitution, and street prostitution in particular, the Garda Síochána have begun to target the clients of prostitutes.

This marks a significant departure from the traditional practice of targeting prostitutes.

Last October gardaí at the Bridewell Garda Station, Dublin, launched a campaign — Operation Kerb — to tackle prostitution on the streets of the north-west inner city.

There had been complaints from many women in the area that while out minding their daily business, they were being approached by men in cars soliciting sex.

Word that such activity could be practiced with impunity was likely to attract dangerous individuals who posed a real threat to women on the streets.

Following vociferous complaints, Operation Kerb was initiated with the aim of identifying the hot spots for such activity and prosecuting the offenders.

Two or three female officers, wearing normal casual attire patrolled the streets, backed up by plain clothes and uniformed colleagues on the beat.

After the female officers in their casual attire were approached by men in cars soliciting sex, the offenders were arrested. A total of 64 men were arrested; 63 of those have already been convicted, and there is an arrest warrant for the remaining man. Those convicted were fined a total of over €5,000.

Nearly all were first-time offenders and there has been no known case of any of those convicted re-offending.

Three females who refused to move on from the area were also arrested as part of Operation Kerb and they were referred to Ruhama, the Irish service founded to help women affected by prostitution.

Most of the women involved in street prostitution are Irish women who are particularly vulnerable as a result of poverty, drug abuse or homelessness.

Ruhama has warmly congratulated the force for the initiative in adopting a zero-tolerance approach to the men attempting to solicit prostitutes.

Prostitution has traditionally been classified as “the oldest profession”. As a result many Irish people have been content to ignore it so long as it did not become obtrusive.

As a society, it is time we faced up to the sordid reality of prostitution. No matter where you stand on the issue, no one should be in any doubt that the real victims of the trade are the women who have been allowed to reach a point in their lives where they feel it necessary to literally prostitute themselves.

The real culprits in this sorry tale of societal inadequacy are, and always have been, those who avail of the trade. Operation Kerb should be extended throughout the country.