Oireachtas committee wants buying of sex to be made a crime

The Oireachtas justice committee is to recommend that the purchase of sex be made a criminal offence.

A report by the committee is being published today on the back of hearings into possible changes to prostitution laws, under review by the Department of Justice.

The exchange of money for sex is not illegal, but soliciting for it, either by a buyer or seller, is.

The committee’s recommendation to criminalise the buyer is in line with the Swedish model, which most submissions called for, including groups attached to the Turn Off the Red Light campaign.

Some of the 65 groups in the campaign took part in the hearings, including Ruhama, Women’s Aid, Doras Luimní, and the Immigrant Council of Ireland. Members of the committee also visited Sweden, where they met with voluntary groups, police, and prosecutors.

Dr Margaret Martin of Women’s Aid said criminalising buyers would send out the message that “women are not commodities”.

Dr Derek Freedman, a specialist on sexually transmitted diseases, urged TDs to think “extremely care-fully” about the Swedish model, saying simplistic solutions did not work. He said men from all backgrounds used sex workers for various reasons, such as curiosity, comfort, or because they were sociophobic, lonely, or addicted to it.

Patricia Stapleton of Doras Luimní, Limerick, said criminalising buyers worked and that most prostitutes were migrants and that some were “horribly exploited”.

Sex Workers Alliance Ireland argued against the Swedish model, claiming it had not worked and Norway was thinking of abandoning it.