Blood donation and sex work in Ireland
by Adeline Berry The world appears to be in turmoil and many of us are looking for ways to be part of the progress in making things better. In that spirit I recently emailed the blood donation service in Ireland to ask about their restrictions on donating. I must...
International Workers Day – Sex Work is Work
Has your income dried up because of the pandemic? Do you put in more hours online for less money than you would have before Covid-19? As a freelance worker do you find it hard to prove where your money came from to apply for emergency welfare? Well, then your...
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...
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...
Covid-19, sex workers and the state’s response
Earlier this week we sent the following email to the caretaker Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and caretaker Minister for Health Simon Harris as well as other state departments. Sex workers who are experiencing financial difficulties, much like other precarious workers during...
Press release: Sentence of rapist shows all-too-rare justice for sex workers possible
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...
Press release: New liaison officers and dedicated email address show the PSNI are taking sex workers safety seriously
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,...
Press statement: Public’s support of sex workers is not reflected in Ireland’s laws and policies
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...
Press release: Attacks, robberies, rapes and assaults on workers in 2019 all caused by sex working laws
Today 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...
Press release: Condoms are used as evidence of sex work
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...
Press release: Garda raids, pimps, reports and conferences this week but no one is asking sex workers what they need
Kate 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...
Comment on arrests of attackers 20th November 2019
Kate McGrew, current sex worker and director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) welcomes the news that arrests have been made following raids on suspected attackers. She said “We know that when sex workers and the Gardaí can work together we can make Ireland a...
Press release: Men ignored by sex work law because it does not suit the ‘helpless victim’ propaganda, says university expert
Men ignored by sex work law because it does not suit the ‘helpless victim’ propaganda, says university expert Availability of PrEP through HSE from this month a major step in addressing HIV, speaker from DCU explains Men were excluded in the formulation of current...
Press release: Sex workers lives at risk amid fear of reporting assaults due to bad and misguided legislation
Both sex workers and Gardaí have known about these criminals for some time but sex workers refuse to contact the Garda because trust in Gardaí is at an all-time low since the law changed in 2017. “The increased assaults and robberies on sex workers currently being...
Comment on Only Fans 12th November
The Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) advocate for all sex workers in Ireland, including cam workers. All aspects of cam work are legal but there is still shame and stigma attached to this type of work, and increasingly support from SWAI is sought around issues in...
Press release: ‘Swedish Model’ promotes harassment and is failing to deter sex workers or clients, says co-author of new Northern Ireland study
A major surge in harassment of sex workers following the introduction of the so-called ‘Swedish Model’ in Northern Ireland was among the main findings in a review of the impact of the legislation, Dr Caoimhe Ní Dhónaill, co-author of a report commissioned for the...
Press Release: Today’s actions will decrease trust in Gardaí for already marginalised sex workers
Kate McGrew, current sex worker and spokesperson for the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland(SWAI) said “The criminalisation of client law was brought in with great fanfare over 2 years ago but, as yet, has only seen two men prosecuted for the purchase of sex in Ireland. It...
Press statement: Demand for sex work has not decreased in Northern Ireland
Client criminalisation is not fit for purpose, has has been met with an increase in sex trafficking and is actively harmed the mental health of sex workers in Northern Ireland, according to a new report from the Department of Justice. Kate McGrew, current sex worker...
Press release: Serial rapist is handed 20-year sentence for targeting Czech sex workers with help of Sex Workers Alliance Ireland
We all expect laws to keep us safe, but the laws around sex work make Ireland more dangerous. Kate McGrew, director of Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) and current sex worker says, “SWAI are happy to hear the news that a serial rapist was handed a 20-year prison...
Press release: Sex workers could be allies in sex trafficking if we were allowed
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...