"Try listening to the people who actually know what’s going on”: sex workers in Ireland demand their human rights.
Sex workers are among the most marginalised and stigmatised people in our society. Harmful laws and practices combined with structural and systemic barriers – including racism, transphobia, gender stereotypes and socio-economic inequalities – are often at the root of high levels of violence and other human rights abuses against them.
In 2017 Ireland reformed the Sexual Offences Act and criminalised the purchase of sex, with the stated aim of better addressing human trafficking for sexual exploitation and making it easier for sex workers to report violence. Five years on, as the Irish government reviews the operation and efficacy of the 2017 Act, new research by Amnesty International exposes how stigma, and the legal framework in place in Ireland, are causing sex workers harm.
Sex workers, speaking anonymously to Amnesty International, revealed that under the current system which they claim marginalises, stigmatises and endangers them rather than protects them, they have been forced to carry out their trade in remote locations and to take more risks than they would otherwise.
One such person using the pseudonym 'Vanessa' said that on one occasion she found herself down a discreet cul de sac, chosen specifically so that the Gardaí would have no cause to be driving past. However, that also meant that she had no escape to safety if necessary. Since the law makes selling sex legal but purchasing sex illegal, 'Vanessa's' clients are understandably cautious about where they do business. Thus, the law that aims to protect sex workers in actual fact drives them further underground.
To add insult to injury, the current brothel keeping provisions of Irish law mean that where a group of sex workers operate together in a residence for safety, they will be viewed as keeping a brothel and become liable for substantial fines or imprisonment. It is also an offence to lease your property to a sex worker for the purpose of carrying out sex work as this falls under the offence of living on earnings of prostitution.
“It’s just not right … You’re not allowed now to be working where there’s two people, which is ridiculous. Just for safety. As well as for company. …It’s horrendous they’re not allowed to work in pairs.”, says “Ashley”, an Irish woman in her 50s.
“Please take this law out, let us work together, we don’t do any harm… It’s dangerous to work alone, very dangerous,” adds “B.”, a 31-year-old Romanian sex worker.
“I was just so paranoid that I’d be caught doing it and obviously I can’t afford to lose my money on fines or anything like that. So, really, that policy has just completely isolated me….”, explains “Poppy”, a 24-year-old Irish student about the impact of the law on her well-being.
“A.”, a migrant sex worker, works alone and experienced three violent incidents, including oral rape, yet going to the police is not an option for them:
“I want to get Irish citizenship. Any criminal record would be detrimental. If I’m working with someone else, it’s putting me at higher risk. I’d personally rather be at risk with a client than with a police officer… I don’t want to go to jail. I’d kill myself.”
Rape is underreported everywhere, and women and girls are disproportionally impacted by its destructive effects. For sex workers, barriers to reporting gender-based violence, including rape, are further compounded by additional myths that reinforce the harmful belief that sex workers always consent to sex. Consenting to sex doesn’t mean consenting to violence. “I think that there is a kind of perception by a lot of people that if you are a sex worker you can’t be raped. Anybody can be raped, even if you are a sex worker” says “Neka”, a 27-year-old British sex worker living in Ireland.
Ignoring sex workers’ experiences of violence when developing and reviewing laws and policies that affect them only puts them in greater danger, like “Aoife”, a 29-year-old sex worker who was raped by a client: “First I was angry at the guy who did this… But then my second reaction was to get really angry at the Guards and really angry at the government and politics and the state. Because I’m in a situation where this was able to happen because of these laws.”
It’s time to stand in solidarity with the growing sex worker-led rights movements in Ireland and elsewhere, the article claims. We must ensure they are not subjected to violence, forced labour or trafficking, that States repeal laws that criminalise sex work and harm sex workers, and guarantee their human rights are upheld.
Read the original article here.