Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am curious to know whether Dr. Freedman approves of the idea of decriminalising the sale of sex. We are looking at the Swedish model. Some of us visited Sweden, saw it in operation and spoke to many of the stakeholders. We were very impressed by it. We were impressed not only by the enormous benefit it has provided to former sex workers, who had been the sellers of sex, but also to the positive good in society. I was struck, in particular, by what we heard about Swedish law enforcers. When they arrest a client for the purchase of sex - they are not arresting the seller anymore because the sale of sex is no longer criminalised, so she is protected by the law in a way that she is not here - they also offer the client social services and support mechanisms to deal with some of the issues raised in Dr. Freedman's presentation which may have motivated him in seeking to buy sex. It is not just a criminal procedure. They have built into that supports to try to prevent reoffending by the client, which I thought was impressive. It is not all criminal justice in that there is another motivation to it too.

The main point is that the Swedish approach protects sellers of sex - the sex workers - from the harm and exploitation that many people who work in the front line say is inherent in the act of prostitution, and I am looking at Ms Linda Latham's presentation. Harm reduction models such as those advocated by Dr. Freedman and others, under which one does not criminalise the purchase of sex, sidestep that fundamental issue. Is the act of prostitution itself harmful and exploitative of the mostly women involved in it? I am sorry; that became a very long question.