Mr. Michael Quinlan:

No. When one is discussing proposed legislation, one must arrive at a definition of prostitution. Even if one had a meeting on that it would be difficult to come to a consensus. From the ITRA study, the figures could be 113,000 men who buy sex from women, in the MSM community one could be talking about numbers in the region of 2,500 men buying sex or just over 2,000 men selling sex. It is not a small population.

I think people have an image in their head of what a prostitute or sex worker is but when it comes to men who are buying or selling sex, one can forget about the preconceived ideas because it is not simply the person on the street. That is the reason I was afraid about the brush.

People need to stand back, they need to go other countries. I would like members to visit MSM sex worker services and also women's services in Britain and then, by link, look at the way services are provided in Sweden and Australia. Rather than limiting the exploration to the Swedish model we should look at the model in the whole that can provide service and support.