Government under pressure to punish those who buy sex

The Government is coming under increasing pressure to punish those who buy sex and to move away from the current emphasis on prosecuting prostitutes.

Increasing poverty as a result of the economic crisis is pushing more women and girls into prostitution, and members of the European Parliament want countries to adopt the Nordic model.

This criminalises sex buyers and not the prostitutes and views prostitution as a violation of women’s human rights and a form of violence against women, the members of the Parliament’s Women’s Rights Committee agreed overwhelmingly.

With two-thirds of those trafficked into the EU being sexually exploited, and more than 95% of these being women and girls, the Irish Immigrant Council says Ireland needs to change its laws.

The French National Assembly passed a bill last month criminalising users as well as pimps, and Northern Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany are considering similar legislation.

The Oireachtas Justice Committee unanimously supported a similar stance and the Council is calling on Justice Minister Alan Shatter to move ahead with the legislation, which the Government has been considering for more than 18 months.

Said Nusha Yonkova, anti-trafficking co-ordinator with the Council: “A milestone is being reached in this debate and it is important that we introduce laws which are effective and robust enough to cut demand for prostitution and end exploitation, abuse and trafficking.”

They are one of 68 bodies of the Turn Off the Red Light campaign, which has the backing of 23 local councils and four of the five largest political parties. They are calling on all Irish MEPs to support the report when it is voted on by the full European Parliament in March.

The non-binding report addresses the wider issues around ending prostitution, including helping the mostly female victims. It calls on national authorities to help prostituted women to find alternative ways to earn money and to put exit programmes in place.

The impact of prostitution and exploitation on women, and especially children and adolescents, should also be taken into account as many suffer physical or psychological traumas or alcohol and drug addiction.