Paying for sex is wrong and everyone must see the light

A culture shift is needed to make the very idea of paying for sexual access to another person’s body unthinkable and will require strong leadership from Government down, writes Liz Kelly

It was a momentous day in March when the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 was commenced almost in its entirety.

This progressive move signified Ireland’s willingness to address sexual violence in the 21st century. This is a watershed, an opportunity to increase the protections for women, children, and men whose bodies have been violated.

The Government, especially the Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald, and legislators must be commended for bringing it forward. Recognition must also be given to the energy and commitment of the NGO sector, frontline services, trade unions and survivors who have campaigned on these issues for a decade.

Part 4 of the legislation criminalises the purchase of sex while decriminalising its sale. Without demand for a supply of young women, the commercial sex industry in Ireland would not have grown, nor would it be increasingly populated by trafficked women and men.

The law recognises there is a separate sex market for trafficked persons and that it is the acceptability of paying for sex which is at the heart of the problem.

Equally important is the focus in the law on supporting victims of sexual exploitation by providing safe exit routes. A number of studies now show that a range of harms to health, well-being, and self-concept are linked to prostitution. Services which address these harms and enable women to rebuild their lives are a vital component of effective enactment and must be well resourced.

On their own, however, laws cannot effect social change. They have to move from the pages of the statute books into policy and practice, hearts and minds.

A culture shift is needed to make the very idea of paying for sexual access to another’s body unthinkable. To get there will require strong leadership in government and within agencies responsible for implementation, alongside action at the grassroots level.

There are a number of practical challenges to consider, including the expansion of support services for those selling sex and ensuring the wider public knows you cannot buy sexual consent.

Training professionals to ensure implementation is done in a way which is respectful of those involved in prostitution is vital, and this includes getting the message across that they will no longer be criminalised.

Implementation and impact need to be independently evaluated, tracing the shifts in prostitution offences over time and also, importantly, any impact on trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Here, the number of detected cases, whether the law has made detection more possible and the number of prosecutions where buyers choose to be witnesses for the prosecution, are key measures.

Encouragingly, France passed similar legislation in 2016 and since its entry into force, no one has been arrested for selling sex, while 937 have been for purchasing it.

With legislation as ground-breaking and contentious as this, an independent monitoring body is required and here I support the call of the Immigrant Council of Ireland and others for a national rapporteur.

This body would build relationships with the implementing agencies to ensure data is collected and collated on the effects of the law reform, including any unintended consequences.

The rapporteur could also oversee evaluation — a longer-term project which looks beyond implementation to wider societal changes. The benefits of such bodies can be seen in both Sweden and the Netherlands.

It is critical to monitor the cultural impact of the legislation, to assess whether it reduces demand for prostitution, in Ireland itself and from Irish men travelling to other countries.

The Men’s Development Network is to be commended for taking the lead in a conversation between men on the sexual ethics of paying for sex and men’s sense of entitlement to sex. These conversations need to ripple through pubs, cafes, sports associations — all the spaces where we debate and deliberate.

If this cultural change is to be achieved the Government needs to commit resources to ensuring that everyone in — and visiting — Ireland knows that it is no longer acceptable to pay for sex. One key aspect here is including this in sex education in schools, so that new generations do not replicate the past.

Studies on men who pay for sex in the UK found three quarters of sex buyers said they would no longer do this if “something” stopped them. This law can be that “something” if it is accompanied by strong leadership, careful implementation and resources for support.

My vision of gender equality is one in which prostitution and trafficking no longer exist: So long as a proportion of men think it ok to buy access and a larger proportion legitimise this, there can be no equality.

The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act provides an opportunity to make this vision a reality in Ireland.

Professor Liz Kelly is director of the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit at London Metropolitan University