Madam, – I wish to commend The Irish Timesfor the excellent recent articles exposing the exploitation of young women and girls in the Irish sex industry (Conor Lally, Weekend Review and Features, May 8th 10th).
In recent years, the Immigrant Council of Ireland has become increasingly concerned about the exploitation of migrant women and children in Ireland’s sex industry – those who are victims of trafficking and those who do not meet the strict, internationally agreed definition of a victim of this crime.
Many of the issues raised in your articles confirmed the findings of a major piece of research published by the Immigrant Council of Ireland last year. The council is lobbying the Government for reform in the way it responds to sexually exploited women and children as a result of that research.
From our work in this area, we have concluded that the most effective way to combat the exploitation of women and girls in the sex industry is to combat the demand fuelling the industry by criminalising the purchase of sexual services. This approach has been adopted in Sweden, Norway, Iceland and with some limitations in the UK.
It is the demand for paid sex that sustains the sex industry, which in turn makes the trafficking and exploitation of women and girls profitable for pimps and traffickers.
I call on the Government again to move to combat sex trafficking and exploitation by criminalising those who pay for sex. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In any discussion relating to prostitution and its inherent exploitation, where is the debate on why men seek to use prostitutes in the first instance? Do we just admit defeat and accept the status quo or is it time to question the root causes of demand? – Yours, etc,