Target the punters - Laws on prostitution

The welcome intervention from former US president Jimmy Carter, in which he encouraged legislators to take the advice offered last year by a Dáil committee on laws around prostitution, highlights again our tardiness in introducing legislation designed to protect the exploited and vulnerable. Even if we know it is good advice and it is supported by all political parties. $90.

We can pretend that the sex industry is based on a business arrangement between consenting adults, but in the vast majority of cases, consent is replaced by compulsion and exploitation. It is time to legislate to recognise that and tackle the cruelty and exploitation involved by trying to cut off the industry’s income by targetting its customers.