Averil Power (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State and thank Senators Zappone and Mac Conghail for their opening remarks on this motion and the Independent group for tabling it. I also acknowledge the work Ruhama, the Immigrant Council of Ireland and the Turn off the Red Light campaign have done on this issue over a long time, but in particular in recent months, and in building a coalition across all sectors of Irish society.

A debate took place at the Irish Medical Organisation's annual conference and doctors said action should be taken. A debate has taken place in ICTU, Barnardos and in 40 different organisation which have come together in a coalition and decided this is the right approach to take.

Fianna Fáil fully supports efforts to eradicate human trafficking and prostitution. In government we passed the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act, which is acknowledged in the Government's amendment, that criminalised the trafficking in human beings for the purpose of exploitation. We also set up anti-trafficking units in the Department of Justice and Equality, the Garda Síochána, the HSE and the Legal Aid Board. By bringing in anti-trafficking legislation and procedures, we acted to address the supply aspect of the equation, as recognised in international conventions against trafficking. However, as Senators Zappone and Mac Conghail highlighted, trafficking is fuelled by the demands of the sex industry. If the sex industry did not have an insatiable appetite for children, teenagers and girls to be trafficked into this country, they would not be here. They are here because there is an appetite and a demand for them. Traffickers go to great lengths to break the law and get women into this country because of the demand. The Government amendment congratulates the work done on the supply side but to only look at that side is to completely miss the point. We must look at demand.

Senator Zappone highlighted the personal circumstances of women who have been trafficked into this country for sexual exploitation. Figures I have seen from Ruhama on the number of women involved in prostitution are deeply upsetting. Ruhama estimates that 1,000 women are selling sexual services in Ireland at any given time and said it has dealt with 140 women from 31 different countries, primarily from Nigeria but also from Romania, Albania and Ghana.

Many Members attended the excellent presentation by the Turn off the Red Light group and the Not Natasha exhibition. It brought home to us the personal stories. What the man does not see when he makes his nice, comfortable choice to fork out €50 for a woman's body, which is the only thing that is truly her own, is the woman who may have got into the industry at 13 years of age, who may have been abused at home as a girl, who may have children in her home country from whom she is separated and who may be afraid to get out of the industry because of what will happen to her children at home and of the gang which took her from her village and knows where her family live, which is the ultimate way to keep her under its control.

People like to glamorise the sex industry and put forward the view that the woman is an equal partner in some kind of legitimate transaction but they need to think about the Not Natasha exhibition and about other girls and their stories. As Ruhama pointed out, the women involved in prostitution are some of the most vulnerable women in our society. Typically, they face huge economic difficulties, including crippling debts. They often have drug problems, many have been victims of abuse in childhood and most got involved in prostitution in their teens. Prostitution for them is not some kind of balanced choice; it is nothing more than a survival strategy.

As Senator Mac Conghail pointed out, by contrast, the men who buy sex have power, money and, at the end of the day, they go back to their nice lives and nice jobs unscarred while the woman is left with the impact of what has happened to her.

Our laws on prostitution are totally inadequate. Instead of recognising the woman as a victim, we stigmatise and criminalise her. I know men are involved in prostitution as well but it is predominantly women. We stigmatise and criminalise those who are involved and in doing so, we make it harder for them to exit the industry and for them to report abuse, seek help and access health and social services because they feel they have done something wrong. Our laws state that they have done something wrong because the law on soliciting applies equally to the man and the woman.

No approach will be perfect and Members referred to alternative views put forward by other countries. The reality is that the Swedish model has had a significant effect. They have managed to reduce the number of women and men involved in prostitution. The best part of the Swedish model is that it recognises that the woman is a victim and the man is involved in a relationship of abuse with the woman and it sends out the right message. Beyond the harsh criminal penalties set out, it educates society that it is not okay to buy somebody's dignity or body.

Fianna Fáil supports the motion tabled by the Independent group. We agree, in large part, to the Government's amendment. At best we hope it is genuine in saying that it is looking at this as a serious issue and that it wants further debate. However, I do not accept there has not been public debate because, as I said, a range of organisations have been working on this issue quite publicly. We are concerned that there is no timescale in the Government's amendment. We hope the Minister of State will set out a clear mechanism for having a time-specific public consultation process which will mean a decision in the next few months and that this issue will not be kicked forward. If it comes to a vote, we will support the Independent group's motion.