Direct provision 'inappropriate for women and girls who have been sexually exploited'

The report produced in partnership by the Sexual Exploitation Research Project (SERP) at UCD and Ruhama, which supports survivors of the sex trade. Stock picture

Direct provision is “wholly inappropriate” for women who have been sexually exploited, according to a new report on women exiting the sex industry.

The report, Pathways to Exit: A Study of Women’s Journeys Out of Prostitution and the Response to their Complex Support Needs, was produced in partnership between the Sexual Exploitation Research Project (SERP) at UCD and Ruhama, which supports survivors of the sex trade.

The project was funded by Community Foundation Ireland and featured contributions from women who have exited the sex industry.

The report has made a raft of recommendations on how to help women after they leave prostitution.

Ruth Breslin and Mary Canning of SERP said that the research revealed “the harms and traumatic consequences of sexual exploitation which result in women having multiple and complex support needs that require a carefully structured, multilayered response”.

The report involved contributions from 62 survey respondents, the youngest of whom was just 12 years of age at the time of her entry into prostitution. This was in contrast to one woman who was 43 when she entered the sex trade. 

However, the report found that more than ten of the 62 respondents were children when they entered the sex industry.

The report found that housing was among the complex needs for women trying to leave the sex industry and it called for a cross-government and cross-departmental approach to addressing the needs of these women.

Gender-specific accommodation

In relation to housing, it noted: “The capacity of gender-specific accommodation must be greatly increased and extended to include women who have not been trafficked but have experienced exploitation in the sex trade, as well as offering women a range of medium to longer-term supported housing options.”

It added: “Recent developments in the provision of gender-specific accommodation for victims of sex trafficking are welcome but these measures do not go far enough. Given that direct provision is a wholly inappropriate form of accommodation for women who have been sexually exploited, the capacity of this gender-specific accommodation model must be greatly increased and extended to include women who have not been trafficked but have experienced exploitation in the sex trade, as well as offering women a range of medium to longer-term supported housing options beyond short-term accommodation.”

The report is also calling for the immigration process to be expedited to “determine migrant women’s immigration status in Ireland and/or confirm that the State recognises them as a victim of trafficking”.

It added: “Such decisions must be made in a prompt and timely fashion so that women can progress in their recovery following sexual exploitation.”

Support and education

The report also recommends that “women exiting prostitution, regardless of immigration status, must continue to be supported into and through further and higher education via the enhanced provision of flexible, funded places and adequate, accessible grants, especially for mature students, dedicated to supporting their education journeys.”

The report argues that health professionals should be adequately resourced and trained to help them identify and support women who have been impacted by prostitution and sex trafficking.

It added: “The reach and accessibility of sexual health services for women in the sex trade need to be greatly enhanced across the country.”

The report called for further resourcing “to extend the reach and human resources of the specialised Organised Prostitution and Human Trafficking Investigation Units across Ireland”.

While it welcomed the proposals to expunge the criminal records of those convicted for selling sex prior to the 2017 legislation, the authors said that the measure must also be expedited.