Campaigners call for reform of prostitution laws

OUTDATED laws on prostitution need radical reform to ensure pimps and punters are punished rather than prostitutes, The Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) said yesterday.

The RCNI questioned what purpose is served in prosecuting vulnerable men and women who sell their bodies for sex.

Fiona Neary, executive director, said they are the soft targets of the sex industry.

“If the Government is serious about tackling prostitution and its associated exploitation and trafficking, then criminalising those individuals who sell their bodies is hardly an effective way to go about it,” she said.

Last year 19 cases of prostitution came to the attention of gardaí.

Twelve were charged, with three – two women and one man – being convicted.

A further eight cases are pending before the courts with the Director of Public Prosecutions yet to make a decision on the remainder.

The RCNI called for reform the day after murderer Charlotte Mulhall was fined for soliciting for sex off Baggott Street near the Grand Canal in September of this year.

She is in jail awaiting sentence for the brutal murder of her mother’s African boyfriend and was on bail with her murder trial looming when stopped by gardaí for soliciting.

Ms Neary claimed cases like this have little impact on the sex industry as a whole.

Gardaí only noted seven cases of brothel keeping in 2005.

While one case involving a brothel keeper was sent to the DPP’s office in 2005 no convictions have been recorded or are known to be pending.

Mr Neary added: “The Irish State seems powerless to make legislation on brothel-keeping stick. It is slow to bring into effect legislation on trafficking and has no legislation to address those who pay for the use of the bodies of women, girls and young men.

“The RCNI cannot condone a set of laws and practices which does nothing to tackle those who control and buy the bodies of girls, women and young men. The Government needs to tackle the demand side of prostitution.”

The group urged legislators to look to the Swedish example. The government there created laws to target demand.

It is estimated the number of women in prostitution in Sweden fell from 2,500 in 1999 to 1,500 in 2002 and the numbers of women being recruited into prostitution has almost halted.

It is also believed to be responsible for reducing trafficking rates down to 500 a year compared with approximately 3,000 in Denmark (which has half the population) and Finland where between 10,000 and 15,000 women were trafficked for prostitution in 2003.

Ms Neary added: “It is high time the Irish Government acted on the clear evidence of the Swedish model and outlawed and pursued those whose custom fuels the international trade in sex and human beings.”