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Research by Amnesty International exposes how stigma, and the legal framework in place in Ireland, are causing sex workers harm.
Here sex workers share their lived experiences, insights and demands for a better world, free from unjust criminal laws, violence and stigma; where their human rights and dignity are respected and upheld.
Amnesty has protected the identity of some of the people
Safety and wellbeing
Full decriminalisation of sex work makes sex workers safer. © Tamara-Jade Kaz
Sex workers often experience horrific human rights abuses. They have told us that in Ireland, this is in part due to the laws that instead of protecting them from violence, endanger, stigmatize and marginalize them.
In Ireland selling sex is legal but the activities around it are not. This includes a ban on buying sex. ”Vanessa”, an Irish street sex worker, says the law fails to make her safer because she has to hide in remote places, take more risks and has fewer chances to seek help:
“I was going down a cul de sac that was discreet, so I wasn’t going to be found by the Guards here, you know, they couldn’t drive by the spot we were in. But at the same time, I had no escape route, if anything went wrong… And that was a very direct result of the Garda presence there targeting of clients… So yeah, they’re not targeting me, but it has as much of an effect on my ability to survive if they want.”
Under the brothel keeping provision in Irish law, sex workers who work together in a residence for safety are viewed as brothel keepers and risk hefty fines and even jail if convicted. Renting accommodation or premises to sex workers can also be prosecuted as a crime under this provision or another one, which criminalizes “living on earnings of prostitution.”.
“It’s just not right … You’re not allowed now to be working where there’s two people, which is ridiculous. Just for safety. As well as for company. …It’s horrendous they’re not allowed to work in pairs.”, says “Ashley”, an Irish woman in her 50s.
“Please take this law out, let us work together, we don’t do any harm… It’s dangerous to work alone. Very dangerous.”, adds “B.”, a 31-year-old Romanian sex worker.
“I was just so paranoid that I’d be caught doing it and obviously I can’t afford to lose my money on fines or anything like that. So, really, that policy has just completely isolated me….”, explains “Poppy”, a 24-year-old Irish student about the impact of the law on her well-being.
Adeline, a trans and intersex activist and PhD student, says she and her wife, who is also a sex worker, were evicted from the flat where they were living and working in Dublin because of these laws.
“Gardaí [police officers] never work alone, but sex workers can’t work together?”, - Adeline, trans and intersex activist
“We really just lost everything… We sank everything we had in the space; it was really beautiful. We sank every penny we had into it, like complete morons, and we had nothing left. We considered a planned suicide for a while afterwards more seriously than I had in a long time”.
Fear of prosecution and a profound lack of trust in the police affect sex workers’ ability to report crimes against them.
“If today, if I was living in my apartment and there were two or three of us in there doing it and something happened to me, I probably wouldn’t go to the guards because they would raid my house a week later”, says Trish a 35-year-old Irish student.
“Nia”, a 26-year-old mixed-race Irish woman, says racism also plays a key role here:
“It’s a lot of foreign nationals that are being prosecuted for it in Ireland… I am looked at as a foreign national, even though I’m not, so I’m more likely to be prosecuted for that.”
“A.”, a migrant sex worker, works alone and experienced three violent incidents, including oral rape, yet going to the police is not an option for them:
“I want to get Irish citizenship. Any criminal record would be detrimental. If I’m working with someone else, it’s putting me at higher risk. I’d personally rather be at risk with a client than with a police officer… I don’t want to go to jail. I’d kill myself.”
A life free from stigma and prejudices