Ms Patricia Stapleton:

My name is Patricia Stapleton. I am anti-trafficking officer with Doras Luimní, a migrant rights NGO based in Limerick. I am speaking from the perspectives of our outreach work with those in prostitution in Limerick and our case work with victims of trafficking. It is a two-pronged approach. We thank the Chairman and the joint committee for the opportunity to contribute to the discussion. Doras Luimní is an independent NGO working to support and promote the rights of migrants living in the Limerick area. Doras Luimní is also a member of the Turn Off the Red Light campaign. We work on integration, advocacy, immigration advice and support, racism and anti-trafficking.

From our experience, the majority of women who are engaged in street prostitution in Limerick are migrant women. Our multi-agency outreach initiative was formed in 2011 amid growing concerns about the increase in on-street prostitution and the visibility of migrant women in Limerick. Additionally, the need for support became apparent due to the marginalised and stigmatised nature of the work and the lack of support via mainstream services for those engaged in it. Our concerns for this cohort are shared by other service providers in the Limerick area.

Outside Dublin, Limerick has recorded the highest number of detections of prostitution and brothel-keeping in the Republic. We have encountered mostly migrant eastern European women in the course of our outreach in Limerick City. The indoor sex trade, as advertised on escort websites, consists of Irish, European and non-EEA nationals. Arguably, prostitution is very complex. The reasons people become involved are varied. However, we will not expand on this today as I believe this has been well covered in previous sessions.

Our concerns are shared by other local organisations and we relate them to the committee briefly as follows. Upward of 90% of women working in on-street prostitution in Limerick are migrant women. Some of the women appear to have little or no English and have trouble communicating the most basic information to non-customers. The women involved appear to be quite young, between the ages of 18 and 24, and sometimes we guess they are younger. There appears to be a high level of transnational organised crime involved in the prostitution industry in Limerick. Some women have worked in several European countries prior to working in Ireland. This increases our concern in regard to trafficking and the likelihood that they were trafficked as minors. High levels of mobility are indicative of human trafficking. We know that those who organise prostitution use different means to control women or coerce them into selling sex, varying from subtle manipulation to outright extreme violence. The families of these women often enter into an agreement with the suspected traffickers whereby the girl or woman involved is brought to Ireland and is then in a position of debt bondage. These women continue to be criminalised by the existing legislation. Penalties are usually in the form of a fine. We have had cases of migrant women from non-EEA countries - mostly Brazilians and Africans - who are involved in off-street prostitution and advertise via web-based escort agencies. Through Operation Quest in 2012, one woman came to our attention as a victim of trafficking.

We believe, in light of the above, that the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 has had an adverse affect on the people who work in prostitution, mostly women. The prostitution industry has changed considerably since 1993, with most prostitution being organised through the Internet and mobile telephones. We are aware that migrant prostituted women in Limerick work in both on- and off-street environments. Their business is a combination of Internet trade, via websites such as Escort Ireland, and the street trade, often through the organisation of criminal gangs. The minority of Irish women we have encountered appear to be drug users and operate by themselves or with their partners.

As the committee is probably aware, the Garda in Limerick responded to on-street prostitution in 2011 by launching Operation Freewheel. Some 27 men were arrested under the 1993 Act for solicitation. This operation is still ongoing. Due to its effects, street-level prostitution has decreased somewhat in the past year. However, the indoor sex trade continues to flourish and indoor prostitution in Limerick is considered to be rampant.

Based on our experience, we recommend the criminalisation of the buyers of sex in line with the Swedish model. This appears to have had the necessary deterrent effect, as evidenced in Limerick in the past year. It would also have the effect of deterring families from consenting to exploitation and trafficking of their daughters, wives, sisters or mothers. If a country is not seen as a soft touch for prostitution and sex trafficking it will become a less attractive destination. We recommend increased penalties and custodial sentences for persons who profit from the organisation and control of prostitution - pimps, landlords and those who recruit women abroad for the purposes of prostitution. We also recommend that those who work - who are mostly women - should be decriminalised, as they are the ones who are prostituted. The level of vulnerability and exploitation cannot be overestimated. We recommend the establishment and funding of exit programmes for those seeking to exit prostitution. The habitual residency condition and immigration policy should not have a negative impact on established and funded exit routes out of prostitution; they should not hinder a victim from accessing such programmes. Currently victims of trafficking are housed within RIA accommodation, which is highly unsuitable.

Arguably a disconnect exists in the public consciousness between how society has traditionally viewed the prostituted and how it views those who buy sex. For example, the prostitute is considered deviant or immoral, while those who buy sex have, until recently, simply remained anonymous. This is the inequality that is inherent in prostitution. This was evident in the public response to the recent Operation Freewheel in Limerick, which meant that local gardaí had to defend their work and actions.

Criminalising the purchase of sex would have a normative effect. It sends the message to the public that by treating human beings as commodities one is committing a crime. We believe that this will have a deterrent effect on prospective buyers. It could also serve to shrink the industry, making Ireland a less desirable destination for human trafficking.