trafficking

Press release: Ireland is failing trafficking victims by persisting with a failed law

July 20, 2022

Linda Kavanagh, communications manager for the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) says “The Trafficking in Persons Report released yesterday highlights that there has been no successful labour trafficking prosecutions in Ireland in the past year. Two prosecutions in Ireland show that the Irish government is still falling short of any meaningful reduction in sex trafficking. SWAI demands that sex work is decriminalised to help identify victims.”

She continued “It is no surprise to us that victims of labour trafficking were deported even though they self-identified. In a meeting with SWAI in 2020 senior Gardaí told us they did not believe self-identified trafficking victims existed and those claiming this status were doing so solely to avoid deportation.”

“Year after year the Trafficking in Persons report, and experts, acknowledge that Direct Provision is unsuitable accommodation for trafficking victims, which is a tacit acknowledgement that Direct Provision can compound trauma and is not fit for purpose. We support calls to End Direct Provision.”

“Since 2017 when the law introduced client criminalisation and increased fines and jail time for so-called brothel keeping, Ireland has struggled to identify trafficking victims. Gardaí themselves have admitted to us that intelligence has fallen since the law was introduced. This is because Gardaí are antagonising their best resource to combat sex trafficking, sex workers themselves.

The sex work law was introduced with great fanfare, with wild claims that it would eradicate sex trafficking, despite it failing to do so in any country that it has been introduced into, including Northern Ireland. Our sex purchase laws have driven sex work underground, moving the small but very real number of sex trafficked victims away from agencies which can help them.

SWAI condemns trafficking and any form of exploitation in the sex industry. However, the law is failing on its own terms. Sex workers won’t report crimes against them to Gardaí and Gardaí are indifferent to this. In fact, our laws have caused a 92% increase in crime against sex workers. What use are these laws, if not to protect people?

Prevention and resilience to trafficking are better than prosecution after the fact. Central to anti-trafficking strategies in other sectors are workers’ ability to organise, unionise and report. Sex workers are not allowed to organise in this way because they must work alone to work legally. Other avenues of reporting and identification should be available to trafficking victims as recommended by this report. A firewall is needed between immigration and sex crimes so that undocumented people feel safe to report crimes against them without fear of deportation.

The war in Ukraine is cynically being used by sex work prohibitionists to push their agenda, despite there being no evidence that Ukrainian women are being trafficked here for sex. This is a waste of precious resources that could be used to help vulnerable people such as those in poverty, domestic violence situations, homelessness or addiction.

If the Gardaí and the state want to combat trafficking and organised crime they should use laws for those specific purposes, not arresting consensual adults. There is no evidence that client criminalisation reduces either sex work or trafficking. How long will Ireland continue to stubbornly refuse to listen to sex workers when they say they want to help, but they can’t?

US State Dept TIP Report

Ireland is failing trafficking victims by criminalising sex work

July 30, 2021

Today, 30th July is World Day Against Trafficking in Person. Ireland continues to languish in the Tier 2 Watchlist of the Trafficking in Persons Report, as we fail to tackle the root causes of trafficking while pursuing failed strategies such as criminalising aspects of sex work.

In 2017 Ireland introduced client criminalisation, increased penalties for sex workers co-working in a bid to ‘End Demand’ of sex work and thereby somehow reduce people being trafficked into Ireland. This blanket policy has had far-reaching consequences which we warned about prior to its introduction. Only two clients have been prosecuted under the law. Many more sex workers have been arrested, deported or threatened with deportation for working together for safety. Violence against sex workers has increased by 92% while trust in Gardaí has decreased to 1%.

It has also failed to reduce trafficking in Ireland. Reports funded by the Department of Justice show that we are underestimating the number of trafficking victims in Ireland by 38%. Convictions of traffickers have fallen while the number of victims identified has increased since 2017.

Organised crime flourishes in industries where a good or service is criminalised in some way. An Organised Crime in Prostitution Unit of the Gardaí was recently established, however, this unit enforces laws that marginalise sex workers and damage trust in the Gardaí. Criminalising any aspect of sex work forces it underground, away from services and justice. Politicians who support the prohibition of sex work are misguidedly supporting organised crime.

The review of the law which began in 2020 gives us an opportunity to reimagine our anti-trafficking efforts as well as putting the health and safety of those in the sex industry first. We need to tackle the reasons why trafficking exists such as repressive border regimes which increase exploitation. We need a firewall between immigration and the sex work unit of the Gardaí so that any undocumented person will feel free to report abuse without fear of deportation.

This review could also highlight that sex workers ourselves are best placed to highlight exploitation in our industry. Aoife Bloom, board member of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) says “No one wants trafficking and abuse to end more than sex workers ourselves. Creating laws that deal with sex trafficking separate to those that deal with other forms of labour trafficking have become anti-migrant or anti-migration measures. Our brothel-keeping laws have been applied in a racist way as highlighted by IHREC. Sex work is an economic activity and sex workers need to be able to enjoy labour rights that other workers enjoy. Trafficking can be tackled by strong unions and proper reporting mechanisms as in other sectors of the economy, but our laws prevent sex workers from doing this and it makes us more vulnerable.”

She continues “SWAI calls for the decriminalisation of sex work along with PICUM Members (Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants, International Labour Organization and The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW). Decriminalisation of sex work does not decriminalise trafficking but will ensure that the Gardaí can utilise the best resource they have against sex trafficking, sex worker ourselves.”

Press release: Decriminalisation of sex work is the first step to helping trafficking victims

July 2, 2021

For the second year in a row Ireland languishes in the Tier 2 Watchlist of the Trafficking in Persons report. Ireland has still not persecuted anyone for trafficking in 7 years and this year marks the fewest trafficking victims identified since 2013.

Aoife Bloom, sex worker and spokesperson for the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) says “This report highlights how the Nordic Model of client criminalisation has failed. The law was brought in with great fanfare as it sought to end the exploitation of people in the sex industry by ending demand. Since then victim identification has fallen and anecdotally we know that Garda intelligence on trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation has decreased since the introduction of this law. Violence against sex workers has also increased by 92% in that time.

“The Trafficking in Persons report and experts acknowledge that Direct Provision is unsuitable accommodation for trafficking victims, which is a tacit acknowledgement that Direct Provision can compound trauma and is not fit for purpose. We support the Movement for Asylum Seekers (MASI) and other organisations’ calls to End Direct Provision.

“We welcomed the news earlier this year on the introduction of the National Referral mechanism and we anticipate the inclusion of NGOs who do not conflate all sex work with sex trafficking. We also support the report’s call for an exemption for crimes committed while trafficked, as we know in Northern Ireland a woman was convicted of trafficking while being a victim of trafficking herself, and migrants have been prosecuted for working in cannabis grow houses while being labour trafficked.

“The government didn’t initiate any prosecutions for labour trafficking in 2020 but has spent significant money on ‘Awareness-raising’ schemes. The fishing industry has been highlighted as a site of exploitation by NGO’s working with migrants yet no trafficking victims were identified in 2020.”

“Sex workers have not been included as part of Ireland’s anti-trafficking forum. Sex workers and sex worker-led organisations need to be recognised as a vital part of anti-trafficking efforts. Unfortunately, Ireland’s anti-trafficking efforts intersect with our repressive laws which seek to prohibit all sex work. This conflation of sex work and sex trafficking makes sex workers more vulnerable to exploitation and violence by pushing their livelihood underground, it also diverts resources away from fighting trafficking and prolongs the suffering and exploitation of trafficking victims. In fact, these laws have focused almost exclusively on young migrant sex workers working together for safety.

“Sex workers can be an ally in anti-trafficking efforts but we are unutilised and over-policed, making more difficult for us to report exploitation.

“Sex trafficking is a complex and abhorrent crime and the solutions to trafficking in Ireland lie in prevention. Oppressive border controls and lack of legal migration avenues, as well as poverty and addiction increase trafficking. SWAI also calls for a firewall between immigration and other parts of the justice system so that undocumented people who have been exploited, assaulted or raped do not fear deportation.

“Sex work must be recognised as work so that sex workers can enjoy the same labour rights as other workers. In other sectors, strong unions and proper reporting mechanisms have a role to play in ending exploitation. But as sex workers operate in a partially criminalised environment we cannot organise like other workers. Separating out sex trafficking from other forms of trafficking has created laws that make us more vulnerable.

“SWAI continues our call to decriminalise sex work to ensure the health and safety of consensual sex workers and those exploited in the sex industry. The focus on clients and sex workers working together for safety does nothing to combat trafficking. Decriminalisation of sex work will not decriminalise trafficking but will allow sex workers to report exploitation without fear.”

Press release: World Day Against Trafficking in Persons highlights Ireland’s failure

July 29, 2020

Today, 30th July is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. Falling from Tier 1 to Tier 2 Watchlist in the Trafficking in Person’s Report since the purchase of sex law was introduced shows that Ireland is not utilising its best weapon against sex trafficking: sex workers themselves

“The long-awaited review of the Review of Part 4 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 law governing sex work is underway. This is an opportunity for policymakers in this country to listen to current sex workers about how the decriminalisation of sex work will keep everyone safer, including those who have been trafficked” says Kate Mc Grew, director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) and current sex worker.

She continues “Globally, sex work prohibitionists have been successful in conflating all sex work as trafficking. This, combined with the fact that other forms of labour draw more trafficking victims into Ireland, has meant that resources are being misspent on a strategy of criminalising the purchase of sex that has not been proven to stop trafficking. This conflation has also meant that consenting sex workers working together for safety have been caught up in so-called brothel raids. In fact, the only people who have been arrested for brothel-keeping in Ireland have been young, migrant women. The Sexual Offences law 2017 is being applied in a racist way, which has been noted by IHREC.”

“US State Dept Trafficking in Person’s Report, released earlier this month, highlights how Ireland struggles to identify victims of trafficking. No one has been arrested for trafficking in Ireland since 2013. In fact, our laws have caused a 92% increase in crime against sex workers. What use are these laws, if not to protect people?

The crime of sex trafficking is despicable and we in SWAI condemn it in the strongest way. It’s unhelpful to separate out sex trafficking from other forms of labour trafficking. Central to anti-trafficking strategies in other sectors are workers ability to organise, unionise and report. Exploitative working conditions such as those experienced by people who have been labour trafficked in other sectors has led to the loss of limbs, and the report notes that ‘The government has reported the problem of forced labor in the country is growing’.

The best tool the state and Gardaí have to find trafficked victims is un-utilised and even ostracised: sex workers. Criminalisation of any aspect of sex work drives sex work underground, making it more difficult to finding those vulnerable to exploitation, including trafficking victims. Data shows that sex workers are extremely unlikely to report to the Gardaí after being victims of a crime. Other avenues of reporting and identification should be available to trafficking victims as recommended by this report. A firewall is needed between immigration and sex crimes so that undocumented people feel safe to report crimes against them without fear of deportation.

Prevention of trafficking is key to reducing its prevalence. Oppressive border controls and lack of legal migration avenues, as well as poverty and addiction increase trafficking. We must reallocate some of the resources spent campaigning against sex work and “awareness-raising” of trafficking into prevention and poverty alleviation.

Now is not the time to increase oppressive laws in the hopes that this will deter traffickers. In fact, the pandemic and the review are opportunities to step back and reassess our laws and their failures. Pouring money into anti-sex work campaigns has not been successful, let us reimagine our anti-trafficking endeavours to include sex workers who are on the ground and are best placed to identify and call-out exploitation in the industry. Anti-trafficking laws are often used as a tool of immigration instead of care and refuge. The reality is that in Ireland many more sex workers have been arrested than clients. Workers are often asked to leave the country or face prosecution. This flies in the face of the care and the rights-based approach that the state is supposed to show.

Decriminalisation of sex work is key and is a stance supported by PICUM Members (Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants, International Labour Organization and The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW). It does not decriminalise the crime of trafficking or coercion, but it moves sex work out of its quasi-legal state and empowers sex workers with labour rights and pathways to justice. Sex workers want to be allies, and we are best placed to do so. But the law does not respond to the circumstances of deep poverty, domestic violence, homelessness, and drug mis-use that lead some to becoming susceptible to trafficking.”

Press release: Time to decriminalise sex work in order to combat Ireland’s failure to combat trafficking

June 26, 2020

Ireland has moved from Tier 2 to Tier 2 Watch List in the US State Department Trafficking in Persons report, released yesterday. This shows that our sex work laws are failing to help sex trafficking victims. Gardaí are ignoring and creating antagonism with their best resource to identify victims of sex trafficking, which are sex workers themselves.

Kate Mc Grew, director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) and current sex worker said “Globally, sex work prohibitionists have been successful in conflating all sex work as trafficking. This, combined with the fact that other forms of labour draw more trafficking victims into Ireland, has meant that resources are being misspent on a strategy of criminalising the purchase of sex that has not been proven to stop trafficking. This conflation has also meant that consenting sex workers working together for safety have been caught up in so-called brothel raids. In fact, the only people who have been arrested for brothel-keeping in Ireland have been young, migrant women. The Sexual Offences law 2017 is being applied in a racist way, which has been noted by IHREC.”

She continued “This report highlights how Ireland struggles to identify victims of trafficking. No one has been arrested for trafficking in Ireland since 2013. In 2017 our sex work laws changed and still, this has not changed. In fact, our laws have caused a 92% increase in crime against sex workers. What use are these laws, if not to protect people?

The crime of sex trafficking is despicable and we in SWAI condemn it in the strongest way. It’s unhelpful to separate out sex trafficking from other forms of labour trafficking. Central to anti-trafficking strategies in other sectors are workers ability to organise, unionise and report. Exploitative working conditions such as those experienced by people who have been labour trafficked have led to the loss of limbs and the report notes that ‘The government has reported the problem of forced labor in the country is growing’.

The best tool the state and Gardaí have to find trafficked victims is not utilised; sex workers. Our sex purchase laws have driven sex work underground, moving the small but very real number of sex trafficked victims away from agencies which can help them. Data shows that sex workers are extremely unlikely to report to the Gardaí after being victims of a crime, despite violent crimes increasing against us by 92%. Other avenues of reporting and identification should be available to trafficking victims as recommended by this report. A firewall is needed between immigration and sex crimes so that undocumented people feel safe to report crimes against them without fear of deportation.

Now is not the time to increase oppressive laws in the hopes that this will deter traffickers. In fact, the pandemic is an opportunity to step back and reassess our laws and their failures. Pouring money into anti-sex work campaigns has not been successful, let us reimagine our anti-trafficking endeavours to include sex workers who are on the ground and are best placed to identify exploitation in the industry.

Press release: Sex workers could be allies in sex trafficking if we were allowed

July 30, 2019

Today is World Day against Trafficking in Persons and we call on the government and the Gardaí to stop conflating consensual sex work and trafficking so that resources could be used where they are needed most: prevention of trafficking.

Kate Mc Grew, director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) and current sex worker said “Client criminalisation, also known as the Nordic Model, was introduced in Ireland in 2017 to protect vulnerable people in sex work, but instead, the most vulnerable sex workers are more at risk of violence and exploitation. Criminalisation of any aspect of sex work drives sex work underground which means more difficulty finding those vulnerable to exploitation, including trafficking victims.”

She continued “The Nordic Model has been in effect in Northern Ireland since 2015 and it has not reduced the amount of trafficking in Northern Ireland. In fact, trafficked victims are prosecuted there.

Migrants are overwhelmingly the targets of brothel raids. Anti-trafficking laws are often used as a tool of immigration instead of care and refuge. The reality is that in Ireland many more sex workers have been arrested than clients. Workers are often asked to leave the country or face prosecution. This flies in the face of the care and the rights-based approach that the state is supposed to show.

The state’s anti-trafficking endeavours focus overwhelmingly on criminalisation and “awareness-raising” of sex trafficking. Very little attention is paid to the larger problem of labour trafficking in Ireland. This is not to minimise the very serious crime of sex trafficking. Decriminalisation of sex work would not mean that sex trafficking would become legal.

Prevention of trafficking is better than criminalisation. If we want to help the most vulnerable in sex work leave, we need to have safety nets in place, such as access to housing, childcare, healthcare or anything that alleviates why the person entered sex work in the first place.

Sex workers are the best people placed to aid in the fight against sex trafficking. Sex workers want to be allies, and we are best placed to do so. But the law does not respond to the circumstances of deep poverty, domestic violence, homelessness, and drug mis-use that lead some to becoming susceptible to trafficking.”

Decrim for Safety