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IN THE PAST year, there have been no convictions secured against sex buyers in Ireland despite new legislation being implemented in March 2017.
It is understood that two cases have been sent to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, however.
The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 prosecutes a person who “pays, gives, offers or promises to pay or give a person (including a prostitute) money” or any other kind of remuneration to engage in sexual activity. Advertising sex work has been prohibited since 1994.
Despite this, a number of sites openly advertise sex work and sex workers. Among them are eurogirlsescort.com, locanto.ie and Escort-Ireland.com. The latter provides users with over 800 “escorts, dominatrix, and massage providers to find your perfect type”. The site lists escorts from all over Ireland, including Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Kildare.
Details of the services being advertised on the site
Escort-Ireland.com is owned by Lazarus Trading SL. The company is registered in Spain, which allows the website to operate legally as it is outside Ireland’s jurisdiction.
In 2015, Lazarus Trading SL had a turnover of over €6 million.
Escort-Ireland.com’s busy traffic allows it to charge sex workers from €35 for a one-day “classic advert” to €700 a month for a “double ad”. Rates vary depending on how long an escort advertises for.
Users rate the escorts out of five stars on the basis of satisfaction, photo accuracy, value for money, physical and overall appearance.
One anonymous user reviewed an escort as “very pretty but had no English”. Another said he found the interaction to be “very mechanical and awkward”.
Garda work
A garda spokesperson confirmed gardaí monitor the sites and have become aware of sex work operations through the websites forums, and on third-party sites such as Twitter.
“Our job is to enforce the legislation. Although the sites are hosted outside the jurisdiction, they allow us monitor where operations are taking place.
“In cases where garda operations are carried out, a file is sent to the DPP and it is in their hands from that point on.”
In Ruhama’s annual report for 2017, CEO Sarah Benson said they are disappointed the law has not been effective in securing prosecutions.
“While Ruhama welcomes the increased efforts being made by some Garda units to support those in prostitution to safely report crimes against them, this is not enough. We need swift and decisive action from An Garda Síochána to effectively target both sex buyers and prostitution organisers,” she said.
Ruth Breslin, also from Ruhama, is critical of Ireland’s online sex trade, saying it is a contributing factor to Ireland’s booming sex trade. Breslin believes that although it is now illegal to purchase sex in Ireland, “a business like escort-Ireland.com is making hefty profits from advertising exactly that”.
“The gardaí have no power to tackle them because they are technically outside the this jurisdiction, even though all the ads are for women [and men] in Ireland,” she added.
Buyers still buying
Edward Keegan, from the Immigrant Council of Ireland, says although the purchasing of sex is illegal, the risk of prosecution fails to act as a deterrent for buyers.
To Keegan’s knowledge, only two cases have been sent to the DPP since the law was introduced.
“When you look at the website most of the discussion in the forums is about implementation of the law and if it’s strict. There’s a need for further training of the gardaí and further resources need to be put in place,” he explains.
Many experts believe it is naive to think Ireland can eradicate the use of sites like escort-ireland.ie.
Genitourinary physician, Dr Derek Freedman, says he has seen no change in the number of people who visit him after using brothels or sex work services but believes there are benefits to Ireland’s ever-growing sex trade:
“Some women work to send their child to one of the best schools in Dublin. For others, their partner has let them down and they want to keep hold of the family home.
“Sites such as escort-ireland.com is simply providing an avenue for sex workers and those looking to avail of their services.”
Disagreement over laws
Defending the legislation, Labour party TD, Ivana Bacik said, “We spoke to a woman working in sex industry. When I asked her how many of her colleagues operate of their own free will, she said 20%. As legislators, we have to provide for the 80%.”
Former HSE worker, Mia De Faoite, fell into prostitution after developing a heroin addiction in 2002, and says more needs to be done to eliminate the use of sex purchasing websites.
De Faoite exited the sex trade after six years following the help of a healthcare professional. De Faoite is now a survivor activist and law graduate. Speaking on the opposition to current law, De Faoite believes less than 10% of sex workers see sex work as a choice.
“It’s not about them, it’s about the 80%. It’s about ‘Do I have a right to go online and find an 18-year-old Romanian woman, or girl to do whatever?’”
“The 10% are a small minority of people. What’s their collateral? They get less buyers, and they make less money, and they fall into trouble with their finances. Guess what? They will have to find a new job.”
The problem, says Dr Eilis Ward, NUI Galway’s School of Political Science and Sociology, is that the State has not put enough resources into researching the effectiveness of the legislation.
Dr Ward questions how the State intends to review the law in five years time as the only research carried out on the current law is by independent groups that is “completely unreliable, biased and problematical”.
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Please support your local farmers over the large retailers
@A2 Poster: Thats a bit like saying please support your local corner shop. That did not work out well for well established reasons..
Larry Goodman and his likes have the government and big business in their pocket. It’s just going to take a lot more protests and the possibility of slurry pumped into Dáil Éireann although it’s full of slurry already.
@Bull McCabe: I’d have more support for your cause Bull if I could stroll down an auld river near yerself and catch a few trout without the likes of you telling me that this you’re land and dont let me see the likes of you here again. Just saying.
@Clint Sofie: Until something happens and the farmer ends up in court being sued.
And then you have the odd idiot leaving gates open, damaging fences, littering.
Add that to the rural crime wave of machinery and tools and you can’t fault the farmers for not being too happy with finding you on their land without their permission.
It doesn’t hurt to ask.
@Mill Lane: Dont think that asking Benjy for permission to stand at a hole of water for an hour or so is going to convert him to let the tax payer who pays his grants catch a few fish, with the greatest of respect ,MILL.
@Clint Sofie: And that’s the difference between thinking and doing….you won’t catch too many fish by thinking.
@Mill Lane: Give it up Mill, it is well known that farmers have killed over a half acre of land. THIS IS MINE AND NOBODY WILL CROSS THAT LITTLE PIECE OF GRASS, SO THERE.
@Clint Sofie: Well if you have such a low opinion of them… don’t go onto their land or buy a boat.
Simple really.
@Clint Sofie: And I’m sure you won’t mind if Bull and myself slip around into your back garden and enjoy an hour lying out in the sun. Just saying like….
@Molly1952: You would be very welcome and I would hope that you would also bring your family’s as well. My land is open to all.
@Clint Sofie: Oh and by the way, we will all end up with 6 foot of grass at the end of the day, no matter how much ya may crave for more of it wright now. The best of luck lads. We will all end up in the same place at the end of it all.
@Clint Sofie: Have to agree with you on that one…
@Molly1952: Good night Molly, or should I say good morning. Cheers.
How the government can’t make the retailers show up and yet they are the ones with the biggest mark up is beyond me
@Garreth Mc Mahon: the retailers are in the UK and other far flung places. 95% is exported. Irish retailers paying more would only be a drop in the bucket
Should banned import beef from South America & North America and need support Irish farmer
And for every €10 you spend on cow meat, you are directly supporting the slaughter of animals.
@Louise: thanks for that
@Louise: and for every €10 you spend on carrots you support the slaughter of innocent vegetables.
@Bull McCabe: and you are denying rabbits their staple diet.
@Louise: As a “normal” vegetarian I really do wish others would stop making stupid statements like this.
People have a fair idea the beef on their plate has been to the slaughter house, they don’t need to be told as they are not stupid.
Our meat free diets are probably no better for the environment, monoculture, pesticides, more diesel, more air miles ect. ect.
Choosing not to eat meat doesn’t give us the right to lecture people and those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
@Louise: The animals wouldnt exist if they weren’t there for meat. Who do you think is going to feed and house a herd of cattle or pigs for pets??
@Molly1952: Thats grand Molly and you are doing the animals a favour? are ya sure that the animals are not doing YOU, a favour.
@the journal. Please fix bugs for iPhone that makes your comment post twice because you have to repost to get it on comments
How the government can’t make the retailers show up and yet they are the ones with the biggest percentage in the price is beyond me
@Garreth Mc Mahon: free trade “”
That top poster is wrong. The retailer gets €3.30 out of every €10 of meat.
They are now looking for a €1Billion Brexit fund. Have they all lost the plot. For those who don’t know what €1Billion looks like, here it is. €1,000,000,000.
@John Hanrahan: too many farmers in this country. If they can’t compete, let them go bust. All the subsidies we give them outweigh the cost of ‘buying Irish’
So where have they published the figures for the claims they are making?
@Darren Byrne: The poster with the prices? I’m sure if it was wrong, the big retailers would have no problem coming out and saying so. But they are cowering away from it because they know it’s true.
Btw, beefplan has suicide prevention phone numbers and coping with depression numbers up on their website. This is a really serious issue for rural people, please don’t doubt them for no reason. It’s their industry, they know it, they know the figures. They shouldn’t have to prove that they aren’t dishonest.
@A2 Poster: I have no doubt that some of them are finding things hard. I have seen other people operate businesses and fail where others then follow and succeed. But my issue is when someone makes claims that just aren’t backed up by figures. Secondly they don’t say how much it costs them to produce that beef that they’re only getting 2 for every 10 spent.
Whats the average turnover/profit of a beef farm anyone?
@Thomas Maher: I would say it relies on economies of scale. The guy who started this only has 100 head of cattle. I’d imagine costs would be much less pro rata if you had 1000 head of cattle.
@Thomas Maher: last year I think teagasc stated it was 6000 € profit Including single farm payment. At the price it is this year I’d image the factory is after taking all the single farm payment and probably some of the off farm income as well
The Irish state and the EU appear to be determined to wipe out rural Ireland!
have your say