Press release: Time to decriminalise sex work in order to combat Ireland’s failure to combat trafficking
Ireland has moved from Tier 2 to Tier 2 Watch List in the US State Department Trafficking in Persons report, released yesterday. This shows that our sex work laws are failing to help sex trafficking victims. Gardaí are ignoring and creating antagonism with their best resource to identify victims of sex trafficking, which are sex […]
Read MorePress release: Ireland is a safer place thanks to sex workers coming forward
“When sex workers work together with Gardaí we can make society better,” says Kate McGrew, current sex worker and director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) commenting on two court cases involving attacks on sex workers which were reported on today. She continues “In the case in Tralee the judge warned the accused to […]
Read MoreBlood 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 confess that it’s been a while […]
Read MoreTime to get real about sex work in Ireland on International Sex Workers Day
“Today is International Sex Workers Day and we are marking it while slowly emerging from the throes of a global pandemic”, says Kate McGrew, current sex worker and director of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI). She continues “Even a global pandemic cannot successfully eradicate the in-person sex industry in Ireland. Over half of the […]
Read MoreInternational 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 experience of the coronavirus is much […]
Read MorePress release: Over 100 European NGOs endorse a statement calling for emergency support to sex workers amid the COVID-19 crisis
The International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE), a network of more than 100 organisations supporting sex workers has published its demands to European institutions and national governments, including emergency income replacement, a moratorium on fines, arrests and prosecution related to sex work and immigration status, access to health care for […]
Read MoreHarm reduction, sex work and Covid-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 […]
Read MorePress Release: Sex workers need supports too says Sex Workers Alliance Ireland
Kate McGrew current sex worker, director of The Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) and co-convenor of the European Network for Sex Workers’ Rights (ICRSE) is calling for the Irish government to urgently act to ensure that sex workers, along with their families and communities, can access social protections during the COVID-19 pandemic. She says “As […]
Read MoreSWAI 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 […]
Read MoreCovid-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 these times, are being affected by Covid-19. We must be included in any plans for […]
Read MorePress 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 sais “These attacks occurred before and after […]
Read MorePress 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, UglyMugs.ie and sex workers. It was a constructive meeting and was well-attended by sex workers […]
Read MorePress 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 alternative voice to the discussion around sex […]
Read MorePress 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 the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) said “Since the sex work […]
Read More2nd Annual Laura Lee lecture speech
In November 2019 we spoke at the 2nd Annual Laura Lee lecture. We read out a speech by a male sex worker. Male sex workers are absent from the conversation about sex work in Ireland. His speech highlights the stigma and shame that exists around sex work. We have helped this man get refugee […]
Read MorePress 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 is World AIDS Day. Ireland needs to wake up […]
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