Gardaí to target men buying sex around big events

A crackdown on men who purchase sex is being prepared and will target the increased demand for such services around the time of major sports fixtures and other events when Covid-19 restrictions ease.

The Irish Times understands the events include major rugby, soccer and GAA games, mostly in Dublin, as well as horseracing meetings, concerts and festivals.

Intelligence gathered by the Garda shows the demand for prostitution increases around major events, especially those attended by large numbers of men who are spending nights away from home. The force is intent on taking advantage of being able to predict when and where demand for prostitution spikes.

A recruitment campaign is under way to staff the Garda’s Organised Prostitution Investigation Unit (OPIU) which was launched this week and will carry out operations targeting organised gangs involved and men who pay for sex.

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The unit has been created within the Garda National Protective Services Bureau, which investigates sex crimes and offences where victims are often classed as being vulnerable.

Victims

Bureau lead Det Chief Supt Declan Daly said the OPIU would treat women involved in prostitution as victims with vulnerabilities. The unit was concerned with catching the gangs exploiting women through prostitution and prosecuting men who paid for sex, which became a criminal offence in 2017, he said.

Det Chief Supt Daly said some men who paid for sex believed “you can’t rape a prostitute” because they were “paying for the service”. Any sex worker who is raped or attacked should be assured the Garda would help and investigate offences against them, he said.

He said men considering paying for sex should be aware the vast majority of women working in the sector had been trafficked and were being exploited. Buyers should remember they could be charged, convicted and named in the media.

“Around our big events in Ireland, like our big sports events, that’s when we see there is really big business and that’s what we’re going to be targeting,” he said.

He added that “big public events” which often involved an “overnight element” for those attending often resulted in a large increase in sexual services being sought.

Assured

Det Chief Supt Daly said women involved in prostitution should be assured the Garda is not interested in treating them as criminals, as was previously the case. While street prostitution was still an issue, it had diminished and represented only a very small fraction of the sex-for-sale trade, he said.

Major crime gangs – from west Africa, Asia, South America and Eastern Europe – were now running prostitution in the State, but Det Chief Supt Daly said it would be “very naive” to think Irish gangs were not also involved.

He added that the new unit would very likely include Garda members from different parts of the world with the language skills needed to investigate the gangs.

Women were being trapped and exploited and constantly moved between leased apartments used as brothels in Ireland. Some of the women believed they were coming to Ireland for jobs in different sectors but had been duped into sex work. Others had drug habits that were being used against them.

The dynamic, in which the women were victims, was now “accepted and understood” within Irish law enforcement, Det Chief Supt Daly said.