Category: blog

May Day

June 3, 2015

May Day is celebrated around Europe as International Workers Day.

A day were we traditionally celebrate workers and demand fair treatment and rights from our employers and governments.

This year for the first time SWAI took part in the May Day march in Dublin.

We walked shoulder to shoulder with other workers, celebrating our profession and asking for our rights.

The May day celebrations in Ireland and else where are generally lead by politically left leaning groups and trade unions. These groups have traditionally fought for labour rights for workers and particularly vulnerable workers who are at risk of exploitation.

However there is one group of workers that trade unions particularly have let down in Ireland – sex workers.

The trade union movement in Ireland was an early member of TORL. Various unions from electricians to nurses have all spoken out against the rights of sex workers.

Indeed the ICTU (Irish Congress of Trade Unions) submitted a paper to the Justices department consultation on Prostitution saying that

“prostitution could not be considered work”

With this one line The ICTU is denying the rights of 100’s of sex workers, to organise and have the same rights and benefits as won and enjoyed by other workers.

This position by the ICTU and Irish unions also goes against the position of other national and international unions policy on sex work.

In fact the International Labour Organisation of which the ICTU is a member issued a report in 1998 called “The Sex Sector: The Economic and Social Bases of Prostitution in Southeast Asia”

In which it states:

“For those adult individuals who freely choose sex work, the policy concerns should focus on improving their working conditions and social protection, and ensuring that they are entitled to the same labour rights and benefits as other workers.”

In various countries sex worker organisations have organised into or joined unions.

In 2002 Red Thread a prostitutes’ rights group in the Netherlands formed a union and became a member of the FNV union confederation,

In New Zealand the Unite Union began to organise sex workers in 2004 in order for them to demand rights like all other workers.

Today in New Zealand sex workers have full employment rights and are protected against discrimination and work place harassment.

We in Ireland ask Unions and supporters of the left to stand up for the rights of sex workers, for their protection dignity and respect.

The same rights the movement has fought for and won for other workers.

Realising Sex Workers Rights

June 3, 2015

On February 4 SWAI launched it’s long awaited paper “Realising Sex Workers Rights” to a packed out room in Buswells Hotel. The document is a collaborate project involving SWAI. sex workers, academics, legal experts and health care providers. It aims to bring forward the debate on sex work in Ireland and to address human rights, the protection of sex workers and to seek an approach based on harm reduction and social justice instead of criminalisation.

For too long the debate on sex work in Ireland has been one sided. Sex workers are often presented as victims who lack choice or real understanding of their own lives, however Sex Workers are a diverse group of individuals with different life experiences and should not be seen as a homogeneous group. Policy relating to Sex Work has to be focused on the needs of the worker, to assess what services they desire or what help they may or may not need.

Whatever the background or issues Sex Workers face most are agreed that further criminalisation of themselves or their clients is not the answer.

A survey done in 2014 by Queens University Belfast showed that 98% of Northern Ireland based Sex Workers were against criminalising the purchase of sexual services, a similar survey done in France that same year showed an equal number of Sex Workers there were also against such laws.

Sex Workers here and else where are concerned about further criminalisation and feel it will only make their situation worse.

Catriona O’Brien, sex worker and co-author of the paper said,

“The proposed laws do not reflect the reality of my life and will only serve to reinforce our exclusion and stigmatisation. “

Some who provide out reach support for Sex Workers also feel the law will have negative implications, as Sex Workers disengage with such services.

Billie who works with GOSHH said

“Given the high level of shame and fear surrounding the buying and selling of sex in Ireland anything that causes further criminalisation or stigmatisation will result in both sex workers and buyers been less willing to speak up when they need support or sexual health screening ”

When deciding on policy relating to sex work it is important that Sex Workers themselves are included in the debate. They know their lives and their needs better than anyone else. However more often than not their opinions are dismissed by people who do not understand the facts, not open to dialogue or who feel they know what is best.

By presenting this paper we hope to open up the discussion and have the voices of sex workers heard and more importantly listened to by policy makers and the public.

You may download “Realising Sex Workers Rights” here

The Views Of Real Sex Workers Part 2 Kate

May 23, 2015

I am a Sex Worker and have been involved in this occupation for approximately 4 years. I started
part-time in order to supplement my regular wage and soon discovered that I enjoyed the work and that I would be in a better position to pay off debts incurred through further education and maintain my financial responsibilities better by moving to full-time.

While I am working, I am also furthering my own education, to broaden my choices at a later date.
Where I am enjoying my work now, I can see that I will not always want to remain in this career and am making provision for my future, with the money earned.

As a Sex Worker who works independently I set my own boundaries and work well within them. I vet all my clients on the phone and if they sound abusive or misogynistic I refuse the booking. I am also at liberty to terminate a booking at any point during the time paid for, if I am not entirely happy.
I have created a website that reflects my personality and encourages clients that suit me best.
I largely enjoy the company of intelligent, polite and respectful men who are looking for good company.

In the four years that I have worked, I have never met a man who has abused me or encountered any violence. I have never been forced to do anything that I was not willing to do and where I do need money to pay for the cost of living, I am in a position where I can refuse work if I do not feel up to it due to fatigue, illness or wary of the caller and always put my health and well-being before money.

I have been working around the UK and Ireland touring for the last two years. Currently I work alone, although I feel there are many advantages to working in pairs, as this again would reduce
the possibility of any abuse or violence, especially for the younger girls, who are still picking up life and social skills.
I currently work from apartments and hotels and work discretely, so that other residents or guests are not aware of what I am doing. I believe discretion is important and would continue to be whatever the legislation. I personally would not choose to work for an Agency, Brothel or be a Street Walker, but if ran correctly I’m sure they could be good avenues to take, as long as it is their choice, then it should not matter where you work.

As part of my work I have met men that are suffering with depression, suicidal, going through divorce, recovering from divorce, virgins in their 40+, have Asperger’s and various physical disability’s including one young one man who was bed bound and unable to use his own hands to give himself relief.
He showed me his testimony and as a fit young 15 year old he had a perfectly normal life, but by his mid 30’s he was waiting to die and wishing he was dead. If my being with him for a little time
made it easier to be alive, then who could possibly say it is wrong?
With a bright mind, but unable to communicate clearly and decaying body, what alternative does he have?
It’s all very well to say, ‘then why don’t you see him for free?’ Yet would you say that to any other professional service provider?
Not forgetting the fears of rejection where there is a selection process. This eliminates that to a degree and allows uncomplicated consensual unions.

I enjoy what I do and yes like everyone else I get paid for my work.
I do not believe that poverty or debt are good reasons to say that there is no choice, as everyone works for an income and to raise their standard of living. Sex Work is no different in that respect.
Many women choose Sex Work for its high earning potential, but also because of its flexibility and the opportunities it offers for the future.

Kate

 

(first published April 2013)

Words from an Irish Sexworker

May 15, 2015

My name is Laura and I am an escort based in Scotland although I spent a great deal of my early working life in the sex industry in Dublin and indeed travelling around the Irish country.

I have first hand experience of working in massage parlours in Dublin before their closure, working for an escort agency and indeed working as an independent lady in the ROI.

In all of my years (over 17) of experience, I never came across a sex worker who was trafficked or coerced in any way. I regularly attended the Baggot Street clinic for check ups and had occasion to meet women who worked on the street there. These were not women who were pimped in any way, very simply they were labouring under extreme poverty, or drug addiction which to my mind are the real issues which need to be addressed.

In terms of modern advertising and methods of advertising on the internet, I have met and personally know a lot of the ladies who currently advertise in Ireland because we stay in touch in order to keep one and other safe, if for no other reason. I know that were anyone to suggest to these ladies that they were being controlled by anything other than their own very strong wills, it would make them very angry indeed.

Due to the clandestine nature of the industry, we are up against enough as it is with stigma, shame, living in fear of the gutter press or our families finding out and to add to that by criminalising two adults who indulge in consensual sex is hugely immoral in itself.

The campaign as presented by TORL at the moment is based on statistics which have been debunked time and time again and to rely on those would be erroneous in the extreme not to mention potentially harmful to sex workers.

As it stands at the moment, as sex workers we have a good working relationship with the Gardai, far preferable to a “them and us” environment. Indeed, it is our clients who will meet the real victims of trafficking and as such open communication between clients and the Gardai on a confidential basis should be strongly encouraged.

Finally, when considering the submissions of the abolitionists, I would strongly urge you to remember that the statistics they are quoting are based on dated surveys of street workers and we now know, that in fact only 10% of all sex work takes place on street. Due regard must surely be given to those of us who work quietly and privately, to support our families in a time of recession.

Laura Lee

 

(first published March 2013)