Mr. Michael Quinlan:

A Gay Health Network study compiled last year indicates that LGBT people, including gay and bisexual men, experience homophobia, violence, discrimination and stigma. These are all added to if the individual involved is living with HIV. The HSE report, LGBT Health: Towards Meeting the Health Care Needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People, published in 2009, outlines the effects on people's mental and physical health as a result of discrimination, violence and marginalisation. Men who have sex with men who sell sex and men who buy sex from men can certainly experience homophobia and stigma. Further sanctions could and would add to this rather than create a situation where we can engage with people. If we are really concerned about a section of society being exploited, used or abused, should we not set about organising, training and empowering sex workers and offering them support and services in order that they might enhance their lives, rather than taking their livelihoods away? Criminalising the buyers would also directly affect the sellers. For example, in order to make a case, evidence would be required and sex workers' activities would have to be monitored. How would such evidence be collected? Who would police gay bars, saunas, cruising areas and the relevant websites, not to mention those for heterosexual men and women who wish to buy and sell sex? Would various groups be charged with following and spying on sex workers, seeking sexual health records and so on?

Another hidden group is that which comprises disabled people who already experience difficulties in respect of sex and sexuality. Commercial sex services for these individuals are very much taboo. However, there are many reports, etc., on disabled people buying sex - from women - an activity in which they have been facilitated by local authorities and carers in Britain and elsewhere. Could these people or their carers be classed as being criminals?

The most important issue for health and sexual health support services is the provision of a confidential and non-judgmental service. Such a service must be confidential in the context of those who use it. We do not have a social work service similar to what is provided in Sweden, where the social worker's job can be to observe and control sex workers or people living with HIV. Even during the criminalisation period in Ireland, the relevant law which had been introduced by the British in Victorian times was seldom, if ever, used. Unlike their counterparts in Britain, homosexual men in Ireland were not arrested. It must be noted that this was not because there were no pretty male officers in the Garda ranks. It appears that it was just not the done thing in Ireland. When HIV and AIDS became an issue in Ireland, gay saunas were not closed. However, those in Sweden were. Creating a "them and us" scenario leads to stigmatisation, whereas accepting that people selling sex can be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or heterosexual males and females and that those who buy sex can also be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or heterosexual males and females might lead to the provision of better services and supports.

In 2003, at the Hidden Stories conference in Sweden, Katarina Lindahl, the chair of the service and a feminist, spoke about being involved in the discussion about penalising men who buy sex, which has been the case since the 1970s in Sweden, though we forget the law has been in place for such a long time. She stated:

Today RSFU does not approve of the current law in Sweden though I see a very positive effect emerging from the discussion. The focus has shifted from only seeing the women to talking about the extremely important role on the demand side. This has to be addressed but criminalisation cannot do this.

I have a November 2012 report from the Swedish Board of Youth Affairs, a government-funded body, which revealed that in Sweden in 2012 more than twice as many young men as women sold sex. According to the study, 2.1% of Swedish males aged 16 to 25 years said they had prostituted themselves in 2012, compared to 1% of women. While in general young men almost exclusively sell to men young Swedish men sold sex to both men and women. Half of the clients of both male and female prostitutes aged under the age of 26 were also aged under 26. This was in 2012 after the law had been in place for a number of years.

In 2003 Ms Lindahl stated:

It has been said a punishment is important because it gives a clear norm about what is not acceptable in our society. But we know there is already a strong stigma related to prostitution and to the people involved. Stigmatisation is never a good thing if one claims to support the individuals concerned. Stigmatisation is only a way to draw a line between us and them.

In Ireland we have only begun to challenge stigma in regard to HIV, and also to challenge homophobia and bullying. We must ensure we do not hinder this work.

I want to take away the large brush I was supposed to bring with me and replace it with a number of small brushes. Perhaps then we will realise that legislation to control adult sexuality and consensual sex is more complex than is thought and, perhaps, is not possible.