Day 2: Are you aware that almost all of the people who have been prosecuted under our brothel-keeping laws are young, migrant women?
You don’t have to take our word for it; the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission report on Ireland’s compliance with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) highlights that brothel-keeping laws are being applied in a racist way.
The law targets young migrant women, not pimps or traffickers.
Two sex workers were given a jail sentence in 2019 for the crime of working together for safety, one of whom was pregnant. Others have been fined, deported and left with a criminal record.
Day 1: Did you know that when sex workers work together for safety, it is considered illegal under the law?
Sex workers are forced to work alone to work legally, which is not something any other worker is forced to do.
Criminals are targeting sex workers precisely because they are forced to work alone or risk breaking the law. Alternatively, they target those working together for safety because those in so-called brothels are less likely to call the police.
Most sex workers we speak to want to work with another worker. Working alone is enforcing the isolation that sex workers already feel. Shame and stigma mean that sex workers feel disenfranchised
Next Friday we will vote for the next government of Ireland. We are asking you, as sex workers and allies, to talk to the future leaders of the country about the rights of sex workers.
We’ve made it easy and put together this handy, printable PDF that you can stick on the back of your door to remind you.
We know many pressing issues in Ireland need change. Sex workers are affected by the lack of secure housing, rising rents, the cost of living crisis, lack of affordable childcare, an underfunded health system that doesn’t work for them and inadequate mental health services.
We’re trying to change the conversation around sex work in Ireland and we need your help!