Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad Senator McDowell agrees because it is indefensible. The current law on prostitution is indefensible. The vast majority of those appearing before the courts are people who are selling sex, usually women, who are the most visible and the most easily targeted by gardaí. They are, of course, prosecuted for the offences of loitering, soliciting and a failure to move on and so forth. The model for regulating prostitution is based on a view of prostitution as a public nuisance, the visible manifestation of which must be controlled. That is utterly ineffective in terms of tackling demand or protecting the women involved. It makes the conditions under which they work appalling and it further ensures that they are victimised and subject to victimisation by gardaí, who, quite understandably, are prosecuting them because that is the basis of the law. The focus of the current law is to regulate supply but this is manifestly not working. Anyone who has read our report or seen any of the investigative programmes on RTE about prostitution will be clear on that point. It is manifestly not working.

The Swedish model is no longer just a Swedish one because there are now similar laws in France, Norway, Iceland, Canada and Northern Ireland. There is a movement internationally to change the focus of prostitution law. The basis of the Swedish approach is gender equality. It is seeking to tackle the exploitation inherent in the prostitution relationship and to put out a declaratory message to the public about the nature of prostitution as inherently exploitative. It also, of course, has a very practical effect in that it tackles demand. Again, looking at the evidence from Sweden, we see that it has had great effect in reducing the incidence of trafficking into Sweden because it tackles demand. Unlike any other law that we have tried in Ireland to date, it seeks to tackle the purchaser or the client and in that way, it is a practical approach. I would argue, as did the committee in 2013, that it is potentially a much more effective approach to tackling prostitution. Will it abolish prostitution? Probably not, just as drug prohibition laws did not abolish drugs or murder laws do not abolish murder. There is a point to be made in that regard and those who suggest that this law will not make prostitution go away are missing the point. It is clearly effective in reducing demand and, therefore, reducing the incidence. That is what we have seen and that is the basis upon which similar laws have been introduced in other countries. I will not go on because we spent extensive time on this point in the Seanad previously. However, I would say that this legislation has very widespread support. A range of NGOs that provide front-line services to women, particularly those from migrant communities who are vulnerable and who have been exploited, are strongly supportive of the Bill. Indeed, they have taken the initiative in pushing for this legislation over many years. It really is long overdue.