Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Pringle on introducing the Bill and I welcome the opportunity to contribute on it. The primary purpose of the Bill is to partially decriminalise prostitution with the criminal element attaching to the person purchasing another person’s body.

The aim of the Bill is to create a situation whereby we would remove the attractiveness of prostitution and trafficking from organised criminal elements. We have seen from various television programmes – “Prime Time” did a very good one – just how lucrative and exploitative it is. I paid particular attention to it because an anonymous apartment block in a town in County Kildare appeared to be a primary location for prostitution. It is not one of the places I would have suspected of such activity. Two women who had been trafficked were asked to talk about their experiences. They referred to fear being the motivation. They did not know where they were and were constantly moved. They were not allowed to have a mobile telephone or contact anyone. They had very little English. They had no expectation that prostitution is what they would end up doing when they came into the country. That is happening as we speak and we have an obligation to do something about it.

The Bill is based on the Swedish experience. Norway has also moved in the same direction in that it has actively discouraged traffickers from going to Sweden.

That is why Norway has moved in that direction.

The Turn Off the Red Light campaign identifies reasons why women and to a lesser extent, men, get involved in prostitution. These include poverty, homelessness, family loss, drug addition, being trafficked or coerced or being groomed by a family member, partner or friend. We can certainly identify poverty as one of the main reasons for prostitution, not just in this century but over many centuries. The campaign also highlights the issue of child prostitution, which is worthy of particular consideration. Claims made in the campaign documentation are all backed up by cross-referenced research. The documentation states:

The female prostitution market is sustained by adult women as well as underage girls, who are offered together in the same cycle of exploitation for the same kind of customer and are considered as 'interchangeable goods'. Research with sex tourists reveals that buyers are quite indiscriminate in using children, girls and women. The majority of women entering prostitution do so for the first time as minors. 11% of those trafficked in Ireland for sexual exploitation were minors at the time they were trafficked. A distinction cannot be made between the "consenting adult" and the child exploited in prostitution.

No doubt the vast majority of women and men who work in prostitution in Ireland do so in circumstances where, if they were given a realistic alternative, they would not choose to do so. We should, as a Parliament and as a country, seek to eliminate the circumstances which force people into prostitution, including economic deprivation, drug addiction or exploitation by another party. In the context of drug addiction, the number of detox beds available here is critically low. Furthermore, the distances people have to travel to avail of methadone treatment programmes means that such programmes are not a realistic option for some. The problems with drug addiction services links directly into prostitution for some people.

In the vast majority of cases, the person selling sexual services is doing so within the context of a severe power imbalance vis-à-visanother person who is likely to profit from his or her activities. Often violence is added to this destructive relationship. This must be tackled and if a change in legislation is required then, as parliamentarians, we must rise to the challenge. This is about a change in culture and law can change culture. Obviously, a change in the law must be accompanied by many other actions. There must be a properly resourced, realistic route out of prostitution for people who wish to get out. They should be able to get out of prostitution without the fear of criminal conviction. The Garda Síochána must be adequately resourced to deal with people trafficking. We must reduce the level of targeting of prostitutes and ensure that support services are in place for those who want to get out of prostitution. The approach must be multi-departmental and must focus on support services for women and, occasionally, men.

There are multiple barriers to people escaping from prostitution. We must remember that the primary driver for those criminal gangs involved in trafficking people for prostitution is money. It is a very lucrative business. The primary reason for engaging in prostitution for those who have not been trafficked is poverty. We must address that issue. We cannot leave that to one side because it is a central issue in all of this.

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