Prostitution itself (the exchange of sexual
services for money) is not illegal in the Republic of
Ireland
, but most activities associated with it (such as
soliciting in a public place, operating brothels and other forms of pimping) are illegal.
Female ‘
escort’ prostitution is
widespread in Irish cities.
Forms and extent of prostitution
There are no up-to-date reliable figures estimating the number of
women or men currently working in prostitution in Ireland.
For many years prior to the 1990s, most female
prostitutes worked on the streets, but, since
this time, brothels marketed as escort services have been the most
prevalent form of prostitution. The industry is highly organised.
Advertising in print publications is illegal, but a very developed
Internet advertising medium exists. There has been massive economic
growth over the last 10 years and male demand for female
prostitution services has also increased in this period. 81% of the
respondents to a survey of Irish escort clients carried out by an
Irish
escort website in 2006 said escort
websites had encouraged them to use escort services.
Foreign prostitutes
are now commonplace in Ireland and Ruhama
, an
organisation working with women involved in prostitution in
Ireland, reported to the government in 2006 that they knew of over
200 women trafficked into Ireland
in recent years.
Legal situation
Prostitution itself is not an offence under Irish law. However, the
Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act of 1993 prohibits soliciting or
importuning another person in a street or public place for the
purpose of prostitution (This offence applies to prostitute and
client.). It also prohibits loitering for the purpose of
prostitution, organizing prostitution by controlling or directing
the activities of a person in prostitution, coercing one to
practice prostitution for gain, living on earnings of the
prostitution of another person, and keeping a brothel or other
premises for the purpose of prostitution. Advertising brothels and
prostitution is prohibited by the Criminal Justice (Public Order)
Act of 1994. 18 is the minimum legal age for a prostitute in
Ireland (Child prostitution Legislation exists to protect persons
under this age.). The Criminal Law (Trafficking in Persons and
Sexual Offences) Bill 2006 recently came into force making
trafficking in persons for the purpose of their sexual exploitation
a specific offence, though previous legislation already covered
much of this area.
History
In the
late 19th and early 20th century Dublin
’s Monto district was awash with brothels and reputedly
the largest red light district in
Europe, but the 1920s saw the decline of Monto, as the Legion of
Mary led by Frank Duff successfully
crusaded to close down the brothels of Monto
and bring religion to the area. Prostitution continued to
exist in the form of individual women selling their bodies on the
streets in cities, but it was a long time before organised
prostitution was seen again.
The first signs of the return of organised prostitution in Ireland
occurred in the 1970s. Whilst
street
prostitution continued to account for the majority of
prostitution, a small number of women started moving into more
organised indoor prostitution situations, either working out of
houses or flats in the cities or in new ‘mobile brothel’ vans that
toured the countryside. When drugs started hitting Ireland in a big
way in the 1980s, drug addicted prostitutes and low-level
pimps became a feature of the streets, and the
prostitutes who weren’t on drugs and the customers started moving
indoors rapidly. The Criminal Law Sexual Offences Act of 1993 then
made soliciting an offence for both prostitute and customer and
outdoor prostitution further declined. By the 1990s the age of the
brothel, and the brothel-keeper, had truly returned. Society seemed
accepting of discreet, indoor prostitution establishments and every
week
In Dublin magazine was full of escort advertisements
for brothels, which were usually the business operations of a small
number of men and women, who knew running brothels was illegal, but
were prepared to take the risk, given the massive profits involved.
The blatant wealth of Ireland’s brothel-keepers in the 1990s was
such that the media began to take more interest. The violent
murders of prostitutes Belinda Pereira and Sinead Kelly in 1996 and
1998 respectively then brought prostitution further into the public
eye. Section 23 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994
prohibited the advertising of brothels and prostitution and in 1999
the
Censorship of
Publications Board banned
In Dublin magazine from
carrying escort advertisements. Criminal proceedings were also
brought against the magazine's publisher, Mike Hogan. The
In
Dublin magazine case heralded the end of escort advertising in
print publications, but Ireland’s first escort website,
Escort Ireland, had already established
itself the previous year in order to take over
In Dublin
magazine's role. 1999 also saw the launch of Operation Gladiator, a
police operation targeting those who profit from organised
prostitution. It was the first operation of its type and lasted
under a year, but in that time it identified and built cases
against several major Dublin brothel-keepers.
In recent years there have been two further police operations.
Operation Quest was launched in 2003, with the aim of tackling
human trafficking, prostitution and criminality within the lap
dancing industry, followed by Operation Hotel in 2005, with the aim
of tackling the trafficking of females from Eastern Europe to work
in the sex industry in Ireland.
See also
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