Ms Margaret Martin:

No, to my knowledge in terms of reading about it, there does not appear to be anything that strikes me in terms of the work of Women's Aid or the broader violence against women movement.

You asked about women who voluntarily choose this life. The shift in the Swedish model is that it criminalises the buyer. It might mean there is a reduced market but it does not penalise a woman who is already involved in something that is potentially quite dangerous at times. I have been involved with the issue of violence against women for a long time. I was a volunteer in the Rape Crisis Centre a long time ago and have kept up to date with much of the research. Women can be extremely vulnerable, certainly when one considers much of the serial killing in the past. I was in Leeds during the time before the Yorkshire Ripper was captured. He had moved from killing women who were seen as sex workers to students. The view of women that is supported in society is very important. It is important for women in terms of how they feel safe and what they can do. When I spoke about coming here today to the women I work with, to gather information, they said they would see it as a positive endorsement to see something like this introduced in Ireland, whereby it is not acceptable that women's bodies are for sale.