“Today is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, and since we marked this day last year there has been a notable shift in attitudes against sex workers in Ireland,” says Mardi Kennedy, coordinator of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI). 

“The tide is turning against sex workers, and it is alarming to see”, Mardi continues. “This year the Department of Justice funded‘ I Must Be Some Person’ research highlighted that 1 in 5 street sex workers in Ireland has been sexually assaulted by Gardaí. This research was unique in giving voice to street sex workers who have been silenced in the dominant narrative around sex work in Ireland.”

Linda Kavanagh, comms manager for SWAI added “We have also recently learned of a sex worker who had their earnings seized at Belfast airport. Selling sex is supposed to be legal on the island of Ireland and yet this worker had her name published online and her earnings stolen by the police. Under what law have her earnings been seized?” 

“All-island brothel raids were conducted in November with no mention of the well-being of the sex workers involved. Gardaí have posed as clients and lied to sex workers to get access to them to conduct so-called welfare checks. The Gardaí have then taken the names of the landlords of these premises. These checks, accompanied by mass texts, have terrorised sex workers and we have been contacted by many sex workers who are concerned by these actions. This is not how to go about combatting trafficking and exploitation in the sex industry.”

“Violence against sex workers comes in many forms, not just from clients. Police, the government, healthcare professionals, landlords, and society at large are all vectors of violence against sex workers. We know this because SWAI listens to sex workers themselves. Trust in the Gardaí amongst the rest of the population is at 90% according to the Gardaí’s own research. If we compare that to the Ugly Mugs stats, the only stats of crimes against sex workers that are collected, we see that less than 1% of sex workers report crimes against them to Gardaí.”

“In the past year we have learned that victims of trafficking who were prosecuted for brothel-keeping will not have their convictions wiped. There is a huge problem in Ireland with trafficked people getting recognised as such, while it suits many to conflate all sex work with trafficking. Just look at the number of traffickers prosecuted and how Ireland has been admonished numerous times for our lack of convictions” says Leah Butler.  

She continues “On a more positive note, this year the review of the law continued and we eagerly await the outcome of this report. This review MUST centre on the experiences of current sex workers and how the Nordic model of client criminalisation has made sex workers more vulnerable to violence, including violence from the state.” 

Here at SWAI we have hired a new coordinator and have a new board, made up of sex workers and allies. We have resumed our monthly coffee meet-ups, and online meet-ups to bolster the diverse community of sex workers in Ireland. We have sent vouchers to sex workers who are struggling with the cost of living crisis because we know that sex workers need more than rhetoric to survive. 

This International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers we demand that sex workers are listened to when we call for the decriminalisation of sex work. The cost of living crisis, on top of the years-long housing crisis, means more people turn to sex work to make ends meet. The Irish government is pushing people into sex work but simultaneously ensures they are less safe once they are. 

Review image

Sex workers must be listened to in the review of the sex work law 

Currently working sex workers in Ireland are central to the review of the law, says Kate McGrew, sex worker and director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI). We are the experts in how this law has affected the health and safety of sex workers in Ireland. The voice of SWAI, the only frontline, sex worker-led organisation in Ireland, was largely excluded when this law was debated in 2017. This was unacceptable. 

 

In response to enquiring about other organisations receiving government funding during the pandemic, the Department of Justice, under the previous Minister for Justice Charles Flanagan, refused SWAI explicitly for as long as we refer to all sex work not as gender-based violence but as an economic activity. Without help from the state, sex workers – already on the margins –  were forced to risk their health by continuing to work for survival. SWAI was faced with doing the work of crowdfunding a hardship fund to successfully give small grants of €100 to over 150 female, male and trans sex workers in Ireland since the beginning of the pandemic to help flatten the curve.

SWAI exists to fight exploitation and to empower people in the sex industry via the labour rights other workers rely on and by removing stigma and criminal laws that have proven to leave sex workers with only illegal avenues, creating barriers to reporting crime and violence, and providing no viable alternatives to working. 

We hope that the new Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, who was so active on the repeal of the 8th amendment, remembers how it is essential to centre those with lived experience when discussing the law that affects their lives. Bodily autonomy is not just about abortion and we are the next in line to see the effect of a more progressive, caring Ireland who is moving away from its dark past. 

We welcome that the review will focus on the impact the law has had on the health and wellbeing of currently working sex workers. We do not speak over sex workers, we ARE sex workers and we know that this law has failed in its ambitions. 

The review will also focus on how the law has achieved and not achieved its aims. It has succeeded in prosecuting young migrant sex workers working together for safety. It has failed to lead to the arrests of traffickers. It has succeeded in increasing violence against sex workers by 92%. It has failed to decrease the number of people sex work. Its has succeeded distancing sex workers from supports including Gardai. It has failed to increase sex workers trust in the Gardaí, there was a near 20% decrease in workers who wished their reports of crime or violence would be passed on to Gardai. It has not made Ireland a safer place for sex workers. It has failed. 

We welcome the news that Maura Butler has been appointed to oversee the review of the Sexual Offences Law (2017). We note her many years of experience in the legal field, her academic record and her clear commitment to equality. We also note that she has been chair of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) and their representative at the European Women’s Lobby (EWL). Both of these organisations have a strong stance against sex work and SWAI has been refused membership of the NWCI for 3 years, an unacceptable exclusion of a key population of vulnerable women.

Government policy should be based on outcomes, not morality. We need to get real about sex work in Ireland and work towards a law that means that sex workers are safe, as healthy as they can be and have laws that protect us. We welcome the review of this law and the opportunity to finally be heard.

Harm reduction, sex work and Covida-19

For sex workers

As sex workers ourselves, we know that when everyone is being told to isolate our work gets hit. If you can take some time off to stop working and social distance now is a good time. 

We also know that some people will need to work to survive. This blogspot outlines a harm reduction approach to sex work during the coronavirus. Do the best you can, that is all anyone can do and you are the best person to make decisions about the reality of your life.

Covid-19 spreads through droplets when a person sneezes or coughs. The virus has a long incubation period so people can transmit without showing symptoms. The safest possible scenario is to keep a distance from others of two to three meters. We know this makes most of our work impossible! So, some suggestions for safer work during this time are:

  • Refraining from kissing and insist on condom-covered services including for blowjobs and dental dams for rimming.
  • Positions like doggy style or reverse cowgirl are better to limit contact and make sure you and your client take long hot showers before and after.
  • Make sure your client washes his hands for 20 seconds upon entry, and when he has left clean all surfaces that he has touched (including doorknobs and handles) with soap and water. Anti-bacterial wipes are okay, soap and water is better.
  • Try not to touch your own face as this is the way the virus enters the body.
  • Take extra care to wash any sex toys that are used
  • Wash your hands for 20 seconds or longer between each client, after being outside and after handling money 
  • Do not do in-person sex work with a client who is displaying symptoms of the virus
  • Do not do in-person sex work if you are displaying symptoms of the virus
  • Each worker charges according to her situation but if possible do not drop your prices. Remember that for your client this is leisure but for you, it’s your livelihood

We know us sex workers are already very good at protecting our health, we just have to be extra careful at this moment!

Please note that there is now a firewall between immigration and the department of health so even if you are undocumented you can still contact a doctor if you have symptoms of the coronavirus.

If you need anything from SWAI, even just for a chat please get in contact with us. We would love to hear from you. 

For clients

Please note that sex workers have always been impeccable when it comes to hygiene. 

  • If possible try to seek remote sexual services such as video or phone sex. Please note that this may not always be possible
  • Ensure your hygiene is exemplary. Note that you are responsible for your own health
  • Wash your hands immediately for 20 seconds or more when entering the premises
  • If running water is not available please use hand sanitiser
  • You should always respect the boundaries a sex worker has but now please do so for your own safety
  • Tip generously, sex workers are always impeccable about hygiene but are taking a risk to see you
  • Wear a condom for all sex acts (without complaint!)
  • Do not seek the services of a sex worker if you are displaying symptoms of the virus
  • Do not be racist to members of the Asian community
For allies
  • Do not stigmatise or judge a worker who keeps working, it can mean the difference between having food to eat or not
  • Do not be racist to members of the Asian community

SWAI Hardship Fund

SWAI Hardship Fund

On Saturday 21st March the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland launched our crowdfund to ensure that some of society’s most vulnerable people can survive. 

All non-essential workplaces have closed and people are being advised to stay indoors and to ‘social distance’ from each other. This is having a particular impact on the sex industry. Already sex workers are seeing a dramatic decrease in clients. Clients are staying away, hotels are closing or at least disallowing non-residents in, and university students are being evicted in swaths if they are in student housing, in order to keep people apart.

We in Ireland were already living under the Nordic Model, which meant a reduction in decent clients for sex workers. This pandemic will make it so much worse for sex workers.

We know from first-hand accounts that street workers, in particular, are feeling the sting of the efforts to curb COVID-19. Most of the street workers in Ireland are truly working at a survival level and this will not change under the current lockdown.

We have also contacted high-level politicians and government departments to request that we are included in any meetings about high-risk populations. We have asked for the cessation of all garda raids on sex work-related activity for the duration of Covid-19, in particular for issues such as ‘brothel keeping’, which in most cases involves two or more people working together for health and safety.

We ask you to give what you can to help precarious workers make it through. This money will go directly into the hands of sex workers through individual emergency payments. Any little helps.

We want to work with Gardaí so that crimes like these can come to justice

On Monday Nolan Keown was sentenced to 14 years in prison after attacking, sexually assaulting and robbing two sex workers in 2016 and 2018. 

Kate McGrew, director of SWAI and current sex worker sais “These attacks occurred before and after the sex purchase law, we need to reiterate that this law does not deter men who know their behaviour is already criminal. A sex purchase ban does nothing to deter people who were already willing to break the law with actual violence. The law only gives these egregious humans more cover and brazenness to do so, as they know that workers are unfortunately less likely to engage with Gardai under this law.”

She continues “However we are very grateful for the work of An Garda Schoicana. We know that we can work together to keep perpetrators not only out of our industry and community but off the streets. 

The law was introduced with great fanfare but what it has resulted in is a 92% increase in violence against sex workers. In this instance, the change in the law did not deter Mr Keown from his violent acts as the occurred before and after the law. 

We are willing to and encouraging of all sex workers to work with Gardai to make Ireland safer for everyone. But the evidence shows that many more sex workers working together for safety have been arrested under our so-called brothel-keeping laws than criminals who have attacked sex workers. Last year two migrant women were prosecuted for working together for safety, one of which was pregnant.  Trust in Gardaí has dropped to less than 1% since the introduction of new penalties for working together for safety. 

Sex workers are not legally allowed to work together for safety. Attackers know that if workers are working together it is considered a brothel. Sex workers who work together are very unlikely to report to the Gardaí because they fear arrest. If a sex worker works alone this can make her more vulnerable to attacks. Sex workers working alone are reluctant to report to the Gardai because they fear that Gardaí will surveil them looking for their clients, or they won’t be believed. Criminals know this and target both workers alone or together.

We ask the government to make this work between sex workers and Gardai more realistic and effective by abandoning the law that works against these important efforts. Currently, Gardai efforts are forced by law to focus on policing and raids when their role with us should only be one of protection. We call for full decriminalisation of sex work as it has proven in New Zealand and Australia to vastly improve relationships between sex workers and police. We all deserve to be safe. 

 

#DecrimforSafety #SupportSafeSexWork

Kate McGrew, current sex worker and director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland said “Yesterday, Thursday 5 March, a private meeting was held between the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI), The Rainbow Project, UglyMugs.ie and sex workers.  It was a constructive meeting and was well-attended by sex workers of many different backgrounds working in Northern Ireland.”

She continued “PSNI Sex Work Liaison Officers (SWLOs) were introduced in 2015, following the advocacy work of Laura Lee.  At this meeting it was announced that the number of PSNI Sex Work Liaison Officers (SWLOs) has now been increased from two officers to six officers and there is also now a new dedicated contact email address for the SWLOs – zSWLO@psni.pnn.police.uk.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Paula Hilman, Head of PSNI’s Public Protection Branch opened the meeting speaking directly to sex workers and saying: “It is not for us to judge, discriminate against anyone, from whatever background, whatever work they do.  Our role is to keep everyone safe and that includes you in the room here with us this evening.”

At the meeting the PSNI, SWAI, UglyMugs.ie and the Rainbow Project all spoke about what each organisation is doing to improve the safety and well-being of people in sex work.  A representative from The Rowan, Northern Ireland’s regional Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), also spoke about their services and their sex worker friendly approach.

Kate also stated “This meeting provided an important opportunity for sex workers to provide feedback to the PSNI and for everyone present to recommit to working in partnership on an ongoing basis.  For reasons of privacy, we will not be publicly detailing the discussions that took place. However, SWAI is very pleased that the PSNI want to listen to and support sex workers.

A more detailed update following the meeting will be circulated to sex workers only next week.  The Rainbow Project are also now organising monthly sex worker only meetups, on the first Tuesday of every month.  If you are doing sex work in Northern Ireland, please know that there is sex worker friendly support available to you, including the sex worker led work that SWAI does in Northern Ireland.  We are here for you.

Prior to the event, SWAI and Reclaim the Night came together to temporarily re-name Queens Square ‘Laura Lee Square’ in honour of all our much loved and missed colleague, Laura Lee.”

#DecrimforSafety #SupportSafeSexWork

Today SWAI marks it’s 10 year anniversary and reflects over the work we have done and the work we need to do. 

Kate McGrew, current sex worker and director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) says “Since its inception in 2009 SWAI have sought to bring an alternative voice to the discussion around sex work. The dominant narrative then and now has conflated sex trafficking, human trafficking and human smuggling with consensual sex work. We give voice to the real experiences of currently working sex workers because we ARE currently working sex workers. This voice has been sorely lacking in Irish society.”

She continues “Since 2009 we have grown, taken on staff, have a majority sex working board and hired a sex worker as a director. This means that the lived experiences and voices of currently working sex workers permeate every aspect of our work. We have direct contact with hundreds of sex workers each year and we provide non-judgemental advice on many subjects such as housing and health, provided paths to justice and signposted services. We have helped workers gain refugee status and guided some through the justice system, resulting in a 20-year sentence for a serial rapist. 

Since 2009 this country has gone through a recession which we are slowly climbing out of, and it has undergone a sea-change in social change, with same-sex marriage, gender recognition and abortion access being legalised. 

Unfortunately, since 2009 client criminalisation has been introduced in Ireland which has a detrimental effect on the safety of workers here. It was brought in with great fanfare but none of the promises that were made has come to pass and in fact, we have seen a 92% increase in violent crime against us. Trust in the Gardaí amongst sex workers has fallen even further. This month alone we have seen a spate of attacks nationwide. We warned that this would happen but we were not listened to.

Sex workers want to work together for safety but the laws in 2017 changed to increase fines for so-called brothel-keeping and added a jail sentence. In June of this year, our worst fears were realised when two migrant workers, one of whom is pregnant, were sentenced to jail for the crime of working together for safety. The judge acknowledged that they were not coerced into this work and there were no bosses, pimps, traffickers or clients involved.

Since the law was introduced only a fraction of the arrests have been of clients. Sex workers bear both the legal brunt and the burden of navigating this law with clients who are potentially more dangerous and much more concerned for their own safety than that of the worker.

In the 10 years since SWAI has started our organisation has gone from strength to strength. We have succeeded in adding a different voice to the sex work discourse and given a voice to this hidden population. In the 2020 review of the law, we must be listened to as the experts in what is best for sex workers. 

To mark our 10 years we are re-launching our website https://sexworkersallianceireland.org/. Through it we provide easy to understand information about sex workers rights, support after sexual assault and budgeting and money management. It will also provide up to date news and our press releases. 

#DecrimforSafety #SupportSafeSexWork

IDEVASW imageToday is International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Sex Workers. Safety and a life free from violence is everyone’s right. But sex workers are put in danger because of our laws and the stigma surrounding sex work. 

Catriona, current sex worker and chairperson of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) said “Since the sex work laws changed in 2017 the lives, health and safety of sex workers have been put in danger. Here are the facts.

  1. Violence against sex workers increased by 92%
  2. Sex workers have less trust in the Gardaí than ever and less than 1% will contact the Gardaí if they are a victim of a crime
  3. Young migrant women bear the brunt of the so-called brothel-keeping laws, not pimps or traffickers
  4. Gardaí resources are being wasted on a failed experiment
  5.  When sex workers and Gardaí can work together justice can be done

She continues “Violence against sex workers has increased by 92% since 2017. Criminals know that sex workers are forced to work alone to work legally. This isolation makes them vulnerable to attacks. If workers work together for safety they are breaking the law. Criminals know this and attack them because they know the workers will not risk arrest by reporting. Sex workers make up 61% of trans people murdered this year globally. Some misguided people say that all sex work is a form of violence but what language do we use then to talk about the very real violence such as the spate of robberies that occurred in the past 6 weeks

We all expect laws and the Gardaí to keep us safe. But the current sex working laws and the way the Gardaí operate means that sex workers do not trust the Gardaí. The same Gardaí who arrest us for working together for safety are the ones we are expected to report to when there has been a crime committed against us. Gardaí are using the spate of crimes committed against sex workers lately as an excuse to clamp down on sex work. Is it any wonder trust is at an all-time low!

This year we have received data from a number of sources, including the Minister for Justice that the people who are arrested under the so-called brothel-keeping laws in Ireland are migrant workers) Not traffickers, not pimps but the women who the laws were purported to keep safe. 100% of the workers we speak to want to work together for safety. The law is failing and is being applied in a racist way. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Network report to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination drew attention to this fact

Recent news has shown that some areas of the country cannot afford to take on new cases and cannot afford foot patrols. Garda resources are being squandered in an effort to police consensual sexual activity between adults. The laws have not reduced trafficking or indeed sex work. 

Sex workers want to work with the Gardaí to make Ireland a safer place. This year a serial rapist was sentenced to 20 years for a spate of attack on sex workers. SWAI was the first point of contact for the victims and the collaboration with Gardaí took a dangerous criminal off the street. Think of what we could accomplish if the laws worked with sex workers, not against them.

This International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Sex Workers, let’s fight for everyone, even if they do a job you are not comfortable with. Fighting for the safety and health of women includes sex workers who cannot or will not give up sex work. We need to acknowledge that it is a job, often people’s last resort, do not take it away from them. The End Demand model does nothing to address the real needs of sex workers.

We need to decriminalise sex work so that sex workers can be safe in our jobs. I want to be proud to be in this country where we take care of everyone and where the laws really keep us safe!

This is the last International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Sex Workers before the review in 2020. We are concerned that the voices of currently working sex workers will be ignored in the review. Sex workers voices are invisible in Ireland. We in SWAI are not speaking over or for sex workers we ARE sex workers, and we need to be heard in the review of policies that affect our lives. We deserve to be listened to.”

With HIV diagnoses on the rise in Ireland as well as demands from clients empowered by a law that was supposed to help sex workers, workers now fear carrying condoms.

Kate McGrew, current sex worker and director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) said “Today is World AIDS Day. Ireland needs to wake up to the fact that there is an increase in HIV diagnoses each year here. 

We were assured that our sex work laws, which changed to client criminalisation in 2017, would make us safer. Instead, they have caused a 92% rise in violent crimes against, ensured the jailing of migrant sex workers and tipped the balance of power towards our clients.

We hear of clients who demand that condoms are not worn. We know that ‘stealthing’, the practice of removing a condom during sex without the knowledge of the sexual partner, is increasing. SWAI has recently supported a migrant sex worker who was too afraid to tell the nurse that she was an escort, and was thus refused PEP, for not being considered part of a high-risk group. Sex workers are afraid to carry condoms now in case they are used as evidence that the purchase of sex work has occurred. All of this flies in the face of best practice of HIV prevention. 

We all deserve to have health and safety but laws which police sexual expression, including transactional sex between consenting adults, lead to already marginalised people being pushed further into the margins. When sex workers, who in Ireland are mostly migrants, cannot work together in safety they take greater risks, such as shorter negotiations or lack of use of condoms. Stigma and shame lead to sex workers not attending services such as rape crisis centres or seeking justice if they have been a victim of a crime.” 

In Ireland, we hear from workers that Gardai routinely take condoms as evidence of sex work as well as any money made, during a brothel raid, even when they do not make any arrests and only tell the women to move on. This leaves the workers with no money to travel and with no safe way to make money to do so. Sex workers and trans workers, in particular, are at high risk for HIV and any law that makes them less likely to practice safe sex or get tested has a detrimental effect on an already vulnerable population.

Misguided politicians have been led to believe that our laws save sex workers, but instead, they put them in harm’s way. SWAI is the only sex workers rights group in Ireland that puts sex workers at the centre of their policy. We join many other sex workers rights groups in calling for full decriminalisation of sex work, including clients so that workers can have healthy and safe lives free from stigma.” 

Red umbrella yellow backgroundKate McGrew, current sex worker and director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) said today “The same Gardaí department who arrest us for working together for safety is the one who we are expected to report to if a crime is committed against us. Is it any wonder that sex worker trust in Gardaí is at an all-time low? Saying there is a culture of distrust shows a lack of understanding for this marginalised community. This year sex workers, including a pregnant worker, were given jail sentences for working together. Is it any wonder that workers are reluctant to report?”

“Since the Gardaí have apprehended the criminals who attacked and robbed workers in Roscommon and Dublin we have learned of other attacks by criminal gangs. Again, because of the massive distrust in Gardaí, sex workers will not report” she continued.  

“We have also begun to hear of workers being contacted by men who are offering security. The law has created a space where pimps can flourish. Pimps are using the increased number of violent attacks on workers to attempt to line their pockets. Both the attacks and pimps are the direct consequence of sex work laws.

Sex workers are not legally allowed to work together for safety. Attackers know that if workers are working together it is considered a brothel. Sex workers who work together are very unlikely to report to the Gardaí because they fear arrest. If a sex worker works alone this can make her more vulnerable to attacks. Sex workers working alone are reluctant to report to the Gardai because they fear that Gardaí will surveil them looking for their clients, or they won’t be believed. Criminals know this and target both workers alone or together.” 

She also voiced concerns about the raids that occurred last week, in the third day of action by the Gardaí this year. “This week we have also learned of more raids and questioning of clients. Raids like these will decrease the numbers of clients who seek the services of workers, which is their aim. But with mounting Christmas expenses workers, many of whom are single mothers, will be forced to take more risks in order to make ends meet. How can the state claim to keep women safe if they are pushing us into more risky situations?” 

SWAI was disappointed to learn that The LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy released today has no inclusion of sex workers. Kate said “The LGBTI+ community make up a significant portion of sex workers in Ireland. Whether you support sex workers rights or not, it is a massive oversight not to include us in the Inclusion Strategy, especially at a time when chemsex and HIV diagnosis are on the rise. Trans sex workers make up 61% of the number of trans people who have been killed globally this year. Ignoring sex workers in the LGBTI+ community is ahistorical, we have always been central to the fight for LGBTI+ rights. Sex workers threw the first brick at Stonewall!

But SWAI was heartened to see IHREC’s inclusion of our sex work laws as a barrier to justice for sex workers, especially migrant sex workers. Our sex work laws are applied in a racist way, with young migrant women feeling the brunt of the law. Almost all of the sex workers prosecuted for working together for safety have been migrant women. We are concerned about due process as sex workers are routinely arrested, prosecuted and convicted with Gardaí acting as prosecutors. The criminalisation of any aspect of sex work, including client criminalisation, has had a detrimental effect on the lives of sex workers, many of whom are already marginalised. Bodily autonomy and privacy are human rights but these rights are routinely breached for sex workers because of the law. We join the Irish Human Right and Equality Commission in calling for a review of our sex work laws. SWAI insists that current sex workers be listened to in the review in 2020. Our stories are important evidence that the law is not fit for purpose.

We encourage workers who have been victims of a crime to come forward. We know that when we work together with Gardaí we can make Ireland a safer place. We need to decriminalise sex work so that workers will feel that the Garda will work with them in prosecuting their attackers. We all want the law to keep us safe.” 

#DecrimforSafety #SupportSafeSexWork