Unsafe sex: Law of unintended circumstances

ANY law that banned the purchase of something but not its sale would seem very strange and unworkable or, at least, a contradiction in terms.

Sex is different. Buying sex was made illegal here on foot of a campaign to mirror the situation in Sweden. On March 27, it became illegal to buy sex, a law legislators and well-meaning campaigners forecast would change the sex industry for the better by outlawing pimping and brothels. But they didn’t reckon on another law — that of unintended consequences.

As the recent protests by residents of Dorset St in Dublin has revealed, sex for sale is back on the street and there has been a noticeable rise in the number of so-called ‘massage parlours’ operated by women and men working alone.