Loopholes allow prostitutes to skirt prosecution
Prosecutions for operating brothels have been few and far between in recent months and years, though not through a lack of effort by the gardaí.
They are hamstrung by the ineffective legislation under which they have to operate and also by modern technology which allows promoter and prostitute to keep themselves one step ahead of prosecution.
Under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 it is illegal to:
Solicit or importune for purposes of prostitution;
Loiter for purposes of prostitution;
Organise prostitution;
Live on earnings of prostitution; and
Keep a brothel.
Those laws, one would have thought, would mean that brothels should be very easy to close down.
However, it is what the law does not include which is making the job of gardaí that much harder.
It is not illegal to advertise the services of prostitutes as long as the website is based outside the State.
This means that websites advertising the services of literally hundreds of women and brothels are untouchable as long as they are hosted, for example, in Britain.
The gardaí had a degree of success when the now-defunct magazine In Dublin published thinly disguised advertisements for escort agencies — especially as mobile phones were not common and so the brothels had to list traceable landlines.
It was an advertisement; it was concrete proof.
However, now the advertiser is anonymous, British-based and immune from attention.
The women who advertise their photographs, the bewildering array of services they offer and the exorbitant prices (up to €400 an hour) are much harder to track because they are only contactable by a pay-as-you-go mobile number.
They can move around, change cities, always one step ahead of the law.
In addition, the hundreds of women who operate on their own have even more protection under Irish law.
It is not illegal to have sex for money.
It is not illegal to be a prostitute.
It is illegal to stand on the street and offer sex, but if a man meets a woman after making contact with her by phone and pays to have sex with her in a place where there are no other prostitutes present, it does not constitute a brothel and neither party has committed a crime.
The loophole means anyone with access to a computer can log on to the internet, do a simple search and within minutes make an appointment to have sex for money, all without any fear of prosecution.
The 2005 Garda Commissioner’s Report, the latest information available, shows that in that year proceedings were instituted against 57 people for either soliciting or picking up prostitutes.
There were 14 convictions, seven cases withdrawn, and the rest of the cases were pending.
The law which governs prostitution in this country is outdated and is allowing a small number of people to make massive amounts of money out of others.
Until there is a political will to tackle the situation, and Irish law on prostitution is brought into the 21st century, the conviction of the likes of Deena Edridge will remain a rarity in Irish society.
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