NGOs call for criminalisation of sex ‘buyers’

IMMIGRANT and community workers have joined forces calling for the “buyers” of sex to be criminalised amid evidence that such a move could reduce prostitution in Ireland.

Police chiefs addressed the issue of sex trafficking at a conference yesterday in Dublin, outlining the difficulty in prosecuting pimps and those exploiting women. The most effective way to end the exploitation of migrant women and to reduce incidences of trafficking was to criminalise “buyers” of sex, the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) agreed.

The Dignity Project, which examines support for victims of sex trafficking in EU countries, said there had been a fall in the number of women being trafficked into Sweden since the criminalisation of the purchase of sex there.