We are so pleased to announce the new SWAI board! The Sex Workers Alliance Ireland welcome Leea Berry, Leah Butler and Lianne O’Hara to our board of directors.
Leea Berry is a Domina and activist taking the role of Treasurer of the Board. Her experiences of harassment and eventually eviction by the Gardaí under the Nordic model in Ireland make her an ideal candidate, with lived experience of life as a sex worker in Ireland.
Leah Butler is taking the role of Chair of the Board and has a BA (Hons) in History and Folklore with structured electives in Equality Studies from University College Dublin. She brings a wealth of experience in grassroots activism and community organising to this role.
Lianne O’Hara is taking the role of Secretary. She is a poet and playwright. Her debut play Fluff, following two Dublin strippers through an evening’s work, sold out a six-show run at the Smock Alley Theatre as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2022. Her deep ties to the sex worker community are invaluable to our organisation.
This board, along with our new coordinator Mardi Kennedy, will ensure a sustainable, sex worker community-focused organisation fighting for the human rights and safety of sex workers on the island of Ireland. To find out more about our team please check out the About Us section of the website.
We are also seeking additional board members for SWAI. If you are interested please read this Board Call Out post and email [email protected]. We are actively seeking board members from diverse and non-traditional backgrounds, and particularly welcome applications from current or former sex workers. Come join our team in the fight to ensure the voices of sex workers are heard
Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) advocates for the human rights and safety of sex workers on the island of Ireland. SWAI is dedicated to decriminalisation, destigmatisation, and community development through outreach, changes in policy and legislation, and increased visibility of sex work in society.
SWAI is a frontline, sex worker-led and community-focused non-governmental organisation in Ireland. We understand ‘sex workers’ as anyone engaged in transactional sexual services indoor, outdoor, and online – including but not limited to street workers, brothel workers, strippers, escorts, those working in massage parlours, online content creators, and pro dommes. Within this definition, we recognise differences in gender, socio-economic background, ethnicity, migratory status, sexuality, and how these may influence one’s work experiences and definitions of self in relation to sex work (working girl, prostitute, entertainer, dancer, gigolo, masseuse, etc).
SWAI believes in full decriminalisation, human rights for sex workers, equality, confidentiality, bodily autonomy, freedom of movement and migration, inclusion, anti-capitalism, and anti-white supremacy. We have a strict policy of not outing sex workers.
The Role:
Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) seeks applications for appointment as directors of its Board, who are Trustees and volunteers.
The Board is made up of six to seven directors, including three officers (Chair, Secretary and Treasurer).
For Board directors, a range of skills are sought, both within and outside the community development sector, to devise and implement a strategy of advocacy, education, and research in relation to the advance of human rights for sex workers, and to govern the organisation, as a company limited by guarantee and not-for-profit NGO.
Responsibilities will include the following:
Providing input to the strategic direction of SWAI and contributing with insight, oversight, and experience in strategic planning in the sector
Policy formation, planning and implementation as required
Governance responsibilities
Essential Skills/Qualities required for the role:
An understanding of and commitment to SWAI’s objectives, in particular advocacy and education in relation to the advance of human rights for sex workers
Commitment to the highest levels of governance
Desirable Skills/Qualities/Profile required for Board members:
Persons with experience in sex work, indoor, outdoor, or online
Persons with experience as Chair, Treasurer, or Secretary
A deep appreciation and knowledge of the community development sector
An understanding of horizontal, non-hierarchical organising
An understanding of the current landscape in relation to sex work in Ireland, both in policy and legal frameworks and in the community
Persons with experience in finance; research; accounting; administration; or
Practising or retired academics, solicitors, barristers, mental health professionals, social workers, in Ireland or Northern Ireland
General duties of a Trustee:
Comply with the organisation’s governing documents
Ensuring the organisation is complying with its purpose for the public benefit
Acting in the best interest of the organisation
Act with reasonable care and skill
Manage the assets of the organisation
Term:
The vacancy will be appointed by co-option on and with effect from 15 February 2023. The term will last until the next Annual General Meeting (September 2023), at which there is a possibility of election for a subsequent term of at least one year.
Board Meetings:
There will be 6 board meetings per year. There will also be monthly team meetings that board directors are requested to attend. Board and team meetings are typically held online.
Diversity:
Sex Workers Alliance Ireland is committed to diversity in appointments to the Board and team, in terms of gender; age; ethnicity; sexual orientation; the inclusion of sex workers and those involved in community development; geography in terms of residence or place of business on the island of Ireland (including both legal jurisdictions).
The Nomination Committee, led by the Chair, has been asked to have regard to the skills and diversity on the Board and to recommend appointments, where possible, on the basis of bringing the Board towards a balance ensuring the highest level of diversity possible.
We particularly welcome applications from current or former sex workers.
Application Deadline:
Applications should be made to [email protected] by 15 January 2023 and will be treated strictly in confidence. Please include in your application previous board experience (if any), a short statement outlining your motivation for wanting to join the SWAI Board of Directors, and, if you wish, your status as a sex worker (if any).
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.
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?
The Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) welcomes the news that the first country in Europe has decriminalised sex work. “Belgium has shown us that decriminalisation of sex work in Europe is possible and Ireland must sit up and pay attention to the mounting evidence that criminalisation of sex work creates vulnerability and increases violence.”
“Belgium has taken the historic step to ensure that sex workers’ safety is prioritised. By listening to sex workers and allies they removed sex work from criminal laws which allows it to be regulated like any other profession.”
These laws were brought in while increasing sentences for rape and centring consent within the law. Sex workers have been actively excluded from discussion on consent in Ireland which is extremely dangerous and short-sighted. The decriminalisation of sex work recognises in law that sex work and sex trafficking are separate. Laws that aim to reduce trafficking by “ending demand” for sex work, such as we have in Ireland, have led to sex workers becoming more vulnerable.
Belgium’s new laws state ensures that minors selling sex remains illegal as does pimping. The law now allows for sex workers to be legitimate employees, with all the rights granted to any other person in the labour force.
Allowing sex workers to legally hire 3rd parties such as accountants means that they are less open to exploitation. Sex work tends to be a cash business as banks in Belgium were prohibited from allowing sex workers to open an account. This law ensures sex workers can use banks and reduced the precarity that sex workers face. This also means that landlords are no longer prohibited from renting to sex workers. In Ireland, so-called Garda welfare checks have led to the eviction of a number of sex workers this winter.
Some aspects of the law remain a concern such as advertising remaining illegal. Bans on advertising lead to stigmatisation and sex workers being kicked off social media platforms. Without advertising some workers will be forced to return to outdoor working which is markedly less safe because sex workers have little time to screen their clients on the street.
We await the full details of this law but this news has given us hope while we await the overdue review of our own laws which has seen violence against sex workers increase by 92%. Sex workers deserve to be heard in Irish Society and Ireland must emulate Belgium by listening to active sex workers about what they need.
Today is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers and we want to highlight how, through government policies, the state pushes people into sex work.Years of austerity, the housing crisis, lack of supports for people using drugs, Direct Provision, limits to how many hours international students can work, lack of decent employment, lack of affordable childcare and precarious work are all contributing factors as to why people enter sex work.
Aoife Bloom, board member of SWAI said “Once people have entered sex work the current law in place ensures they are not safe. Client criminalisation was introduced in 2017 along with increases in the penalties and a potential jail sentence for working together for safety. This means that to work legally sex workers must work alone. Almost all sex workers we speak to would like the option of sharing a premises for safety. Most of the people who have been arrested for so-called brothel-keeping have been young, migrant sex workers.”
Client criminalisation has not ended sex work in Ireland but it has given the client the upper hand in the negotiating process. A sex worker has to ensure the client feels safe as the client is the one taking the risk. The legal pressure that clients face is absorbed by sex workers. This means shorter negotiation times, more risk-taking such as not using a condom, less screening and taking on clients you would normally refuse to make up for lost income. The reality is sex work is still partially if not fully criminalised in Ireland. When you decriminalise the act of selling sex yet make all the conditions for selling sex illegal, it is just ideology.
Recently a spate of so-called welfare checks by Gardaí have terrorised sex workers and even resulted in evictions. In the middle of winter, during an increase in the numbers of people contracting COVID, at the height of the housing crisis sex workers are being forced out of their homes by their landlords who cannot rent to them for fear of prosecution. This is the direct result of the law passed in 2017 which was supposed to end exploitation. Both the Gardaí and landlords are obliged to follow the law. The reality is that the Gardaí can’t help people that they are criminalising.”
“We are already degraded, objectified and mistreated by so many abusers and sometimes by the general public, we do not need to be treated in the same manner by the government or by officers of the law.”
– Naomi, active sex worker in Ireland
Aoife says “Criminalising the purchase of sex has done nothing to remove the reasons why women sell sex in the first place, and neither did lockdown. No supports were put in place when this law was introduced. Sex work is an economic activity and sex workers need rights like all other workers. The first step is to decriminalise sex work so that the health and safety of sex workers can be prioritised.”
“I want it to be safe for everyone. It’s all about our safety.”
The Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) invites all sex workers, supporters and allies to join us at a candlelit vigil to mark International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers #IDEVASW.
The review of the laws governing sex work has stalled, Garda “welfare checks” have resulted in sex workers being evicted and sex workers have been deported during a global pandemic.
We have also seen some more prosecutions of violent criminals who attacked sex workers in the aftermath of the change in the law in 2017. For the second year in a row Ireland languishes in the Tier 2 Watchlist of the Trafficking in Persons report. Despite the promises of client criminalisation fewer trafficking victims have been identified and violence against sex workers has increased by 92%.
Stigma against sex workers rages on and affects the health, safety and security of sex workers in Ireland. We will have a moment’s silence for those who have suffered violence and lost their lives due to this abhorrent stigma.
We ask you to join us on Friday Dec 17th to call for an end to violence against sex workers, and to acknowledge that our laws do not address the root needs of sex workers, which are rights, health, safety and security.
Please contact Linda privately & confidentially for more information or join us at 6:30pm outside Leinster House. Email: [email protected]
This Trans Day of Remembrance LGBTQI+ organisations must stand with the Sex Workers Alliance of Ireland (SWAI) when we call for the full decriminalisation of sex work. Any alternative is putting the health and safety of trans people at risk.
Aoife Bloom, board member of SWAI says “Today, on Trans Day of Remembrance 2021 we demand that society acknowledges how the majority of trans people who were killed in 2021 were trans sex workers.
2021 is a record-breaking year for violence against trans people. 375 gender diverse people were murdered and the majority of those murdered were black and migrant. Over half of those murdered were sex workers. When we talk about transphobic violence and Trans Day of Remembrance we’re usually talking about trans sex workers of colour.”
Our current model of client criminalisation does not respond to the circumstances of deep poverty, domestic violence, homelessness, precarity and drug use that may lead to people selling sex. Sex workers exist on the sharp end of misogyny, racism, transphobia and other forms of marginalisation. Sex workers must work alone to work legally which increases our vulnerability.
How long more can government, health authorities, and gender equality bodies here ignore the growing body of evidence that shows that their policies are damaging and endangering to the physical and mental health of this precarious group of people?
SWAI demands that organisations that claim to support trans people start to advocate and agitate for the full decriminalisation of sex work. Decriminalisation is essential for combating trans marginalisation and HIV rates, building trust with marginalised communities and providing access to sexual health supports. You cannot be pro LGBT rights without being pro-sex worker rights.”
Aoife Bloom, board member of SWAI said “The global pandemic continues and while we are slowly reopening some sex workers are supplementing their income through online work. Throughout the pandemic the number of OnlyFans content creators increased dramatically which undoubtedly increased the profits for the shareholder immensely.”
She continued “Sex workers are familiar with exclusion from financial platforms. PayPal, which have its European headquarters in Ireland, have closed the accounts of sex workers, refused to pay out the remaining balance which amounts to stealing money, even for those who do not use the platform to be paid for sex work. GoFundMe, a popular crowdfunding site that many trans people use to raise money to pay for the surgeries they do not have access to here in Ireland, does not allow sex workers to use their platform. Our COVID hardship fund in 2020 sought to get cash straight into the hands of sex workers who really needed it and we struggled with a reliable way to deliver it. May we remind people that sex work in Ireland is not illegal, at least according to the proponents of the Nordic Model of client criminalisation in Ireland.”
“These new regulations would have been a fallout from the FOSTA SESTA laws, introduced in the United States in 2018. These laws made advertising sex work illegal which meant workers could no longer use these sites to find clients and many were forced back to their exploitative managers (pimps) or working in the street. We have seen that these third parties have contacted OnlyFans workers in the wake of the proposed changes. Stigma and marginalisation make sex workers reliant on third parties which opens them up to exploitation.”
“Reducing the income of sex workers is a core tenant of the End Demand model of client criminalisation. Many sex workers were not included in government supports which meant that over 50% of the sex workers we spoke to were unable to give up in-person work. As we have stated time and again reducing the income of sex workers does nothing to end exploitation and trafficking in the industry and in fact make sex workers less safe. Sex workers could have been forced to move away from OnlyFans into in-person work. This loss of income could have forced workers into taking risks such as not using condoms or taking on clients that they would normally turn down.”
“Despite the claims of anti-sex work organisations in Ireland and elsewhere, there is no evidence that people have been coerced into creating content. The platform allows workers to set their own time, be their own boss and avoid exploitative pornography production companies. It is clear that anti-sex work ideology is more important than mitigating risk for people working in the industry. These financial institutes claim a moral authority but continue to work with companies that are responsible for climate change, or the opioid crisis.”
“Sex workers are people, it seems we have to remind the world of this. Sex workers are excluded from financial institutions and social media platforms, even when the mantra for the past 18 months has been to stay indoors. The organisations calling for this exclusion have dark histories of religious oppression and anti-choice rhetoric, including in Ireland. Make no mistake, they will not stop at excluding sex workers, other marginalised people will be next. Where will this end?”
“Sex workers are the canaries in the coal mine for many regressive laws and regulations. Decriminalisation of sex work is the first step in ending the stigma of our work. We are entitled to work as safely as possible. Decriminalisation will not legalise exploitation or trafficking. Our current legal model is failing sex workers and has done nothing to keep us safe since its introduction.”
SWAI has an exciting new opportunity for a highly motivated, experienced person to join our team. The role of Coordinator is to promote the health, safety, participation and dignity of all female, male, cis and trans sex workers in Ireland.
SWAI is Ireland’s only frontline organisation which works from a harm reduction, non-judgmental and human rights perspective to support the rights of sex workers. We advocate for the right to health, safety, participation, dignity and self-determination of all people working in the sex industry in Ireland. In line with evidence-based policy, we want to see the sex purchase ban repealed, a repeal of brothel-keeping law in Ireland and full decriminalisation of sex work.
The Coordinator reports to the SWAI Board of Directors. SWAI encourages applicants from diverse and non-traditional backgrounds.
Ideal Candidate
We are looking for someone who believes that organising and working collectively can bring about change. This is an ideal role for someone who feels strongly about tackling injustice and growing power within the sex work community. Do you believe in a model that puts people impacted front and centre of its work? Can you lead projects and support others to lead through training and mentoring teams and communities? Do you have experience of organising, leading and coordinating campaigns? Are you up for rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck in? If so, this may be the job for you!
The Role
Coordinating, supervising and mentoring to staff members in the area of community work/organising and campaigns.
Develop and implement annual work plans to achieve the goals of the strategic plan
Oversee a strategy for the ongoing and sustained support for theparticipation of sex workers in all of SWAI’s work
Working with the admin staff member to identify funding opportunities, develop funding proposals and take responsibility for implementing funded projects
Oversee the development of a campaign to counter the criminalisation of sexworkers
Engage a range of civil society (community groups, NGOs, advocacy organisations, etc) stakeholders to support the human rights of sexworkers and alternatives to the Nordic model
Represent SWAI at events, external meetings, on external structures and bodies and in the media
Develop relationships with politicians, civil servants and relevant stakeholders as part of campaigning and advocacy work
Prepare reports for internal and external purposes and coordinate relevant research and policy positions
Increase the capacity of SWAI to advocate for the rights of sex workers in Ireland by coordinating a panel of sex workers to do community outreach and inform the direct of SWAI’s work
Report in a transparent and thorough manner to the Board of Directors on all matters relating to the finances and management of SWAI
Ensure the organisation operates in compliance with all relevant statutory regulations
These duties are a guide to the general range of responsibilities and are neither definitive nor restrictive. The Coordinator may from time to time have to undertake other duties in keeping with the overall function of the post.
Essential
Clear ability to manage, support, and lead a team of staff and volunteers in a collaborative and inclusive manner
Experience in outreach work, developing trust and connection with individuals and groups
Ability to think strategically and to plan, direct and run campaigns
Clear ability to work in a diverse and intercultural context and across a range of stakeholders
A self-starter, who demonstrates initiative and has the ability to be creative, flexible and innovative
Excellent communication skills; capacity to develop good interpersonal skills and work collaboratively
Strong commitment to tackling injustice and advancing sex worker rights
Clear about own values – anti-racism, equality, social justice – and a commitment to the power of people working together to challenge injustice
Experience in digital technology
Understanding and critical analysis of sex work in Ireland
Understanding of issues facing sex workers
Excellent organisational and administrative skills
Desirable
Lived experience of sex work. Please note there is no expectation in this role to be ‘out’ in the media, although if this is something that you are interested in we will provide media training and support.
Experience in a managerial role with experience of providing supervision and one to one mentoring supports to staff ensuring clarity and accountability on priorities and goals
Experience and knowledge of community work/organising as method in working for change
Experience of developing and implementing funding proposals and projects and overseeing compliance
Knowledge of legislative and policy development and influencing the Irish political system
Experience of working within a harm reduction context
Remuneration: €45,000- €52,000 pro rata commensurate to experience.
Commencing: As soon as possible.
Day of Work –
3 days per week (21 hours), these hours can be done flexibly. Further hours available dependent on funding and resource allocation. Will include some out of office hours and some travel throughout Ireland. Remote working is optional.
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%.
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.”
Today, 30th July is World Day Against Trafficking in Person. Ireland continues to languish in the