David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----success in full decriminalisation? Why did it refuse to invite in Swedish sex workers who expressed grave dissatisfaction with the model in Sweden? At a Dublin conference in October, Pye Jakobsson of the Swedish Rose Alliance spoke about the various negative consequences experienced by sex workers under the Swedish model. I would have expected that would have been of interest to the committee but it was not, not a bit of it. Anything that disagrees with its preordained position is ruthlessly excluded and, of course, it is popular with the public, that is why it is being done by politicians.

Why did the delegation which visited Sweden in November refuse to meet with the Rose Alliance? What about openness to another point of view? The Chairman, Deputy David Stanton from Fine Gael, put on his website before the hearings a complete endorsement of the Swedish model. How impartial is that? I was astonished that anybody with an academic background would stand over this kind of thing. Why did the Chairman say at the 6 January meeting that all models dealing with prostitution legislation had been examined by the committee when no such examination of alternative models has happened?While the committee was in Sweden the Swedish Forum for Human Rights confirmed the trafficking of over 166 children between 2008 and 2011. With regard to the fact that some sex workers were ultimately admitted to the committee, the decision was made not to record their views. They were excluded. How impartial is this? Where is academic integrity?

I turn to the Queen’s University report. It found that between 2009 and June 2014, the total number of confirmed victims of trafficking for sexual purposes was 26. That is very regrettable but it is not the kind of flood or catastrophe that people have been talking about here. With regard to the motives for people getting involved, it is terribly patronising for middle-class people to stand up and tell people whether they are victims are not and that no matter what they say, they are not being listened to. What about all the slogans that we used to hear about "Hands off my body"? In a survey of 171 sex workers, between half and one third responded as to what they like about prostitution. Here are the first six: "It helps me to be financially independent. I like the freedom of being self-employed. It helps me save money for something important. I like the flexible working hours. I enjoy meeting different people. I enjoy bringing happiness to clients". I have spoken to people in Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fáil and they are against this legislation but they are afraid to say so because there has been an ideologically driven campaign to push this through.

Here is what one of the people involved says: “It was empowering, to be honest. If I hadn't turned to sex work I would have lost my house and it was fantastic to be able to do that ... It enabled me to do things I would never have been able to do otherwise". "[When it was my daughter’s] birthday I was able to take her into town and spend £200 on her, on clothes. Whereas, I was never able to do that before, never, and Christmas was always, you know, you're getting stuff out of catalogues, and then you just paid off before next Christmas, and then you have to get stuff again, so it was just a vicious circle. Plus I am able to help my sister out a lot,...". Here is another one:

I realised through this job that I was quite good at counselling people and people opened up to me. It is a lovely feeling. For disabled people, I found that difficult to begin with because I'm not used to being around people with certain disabilities. Again, it makes you realise that you are just one person in the whole tapestry of the world. I felt quite privileged that I was able to make somebody else happy that may never have had the chance to experience intimacy otherwise ... I like the fact that it made me a better person because I'm not judgmental as I used to be.

I do not think this could be seen as the words, the language of a victim.

I am not saying prostitution is wonderful. I am just saying face the reality, the medical reality. What about the welfare of the people involved in this? I remember when decriminalisation of homosexuality went through this House and, as usual, the Government tacked on a counterweight which was inimical to the welfare of prostitutes. I stood up in this House and I said I would not accept my freedom at the expense of other vulnerable people and that I would be speaking here as more or less a lone voice for those vulnerable people.

With regard to the Swedish issue, in a recent survey by the Global Slavery Index, the Republic of Ireland and Britain did better than Sweden, after 15 years of this legislation. The Norwegians have been instanced. The Norwegian Ministry of Justice talks about a general problem with statistics in Sweden since they are highly uncertain. This is what it says about the 2010 official evaluation by the Swedish Government:

The criticism has primarily been focused on the evaluation’s lack of scientific rigor: it did not have an objective starting point, since the terms of reference given were that the purchase of sex must continue to be illegal; there was not a satisfying definition of prostitution; it did not take into account ideology, method, sources and possible confounding factors; there were inconsistencies, contradictions, haphazard referencing, irrelevant or flawed comparisons and conclusions were made without factual backup and were at times of a speculative character.

This is the Norwegian Government talking about the Swedish Government’s report:

The Swedish street prostitutes experience a tougher time. They are more frequently exposed to dangerous clients, while the serious clients are afraid of being arrested. Prohibition will never be able to stop the purchase and sale of sex. It could only make conditions worse for the prostitutes. They have less time to assess the client as the deal takes place very hurriedly due to fear on the part of the client. They (the prostitutes) are exposed to violence and sexually transmitted diseases.

That is where we are going. I know the Minister is a concerned and decent person and I urge her to take on the welfare of these people engaged in this business and not the ideological pretensions of what amounts to an ideologically driven lobbying group.