After almost five years of delays, the review of Ireland’s sex worker legislation has been published, including calls for full decriminalisation. However, activists raised concerns over the impact the laws have on sex workers.

A review of the Sexual Offences Act 2017 was originally due to be published in 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Solicitor Maura Butler SC was tasked with publishing the review in 2021, but repeated delays occurred, and the review was only published on Tuesday, March 25.

Under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017, the sale of sex was decriminalised, but the purchase of sex was made illegal, and the penalty for brothel-keeping increased. Prior to this, paying for sexual services constituted a criminal offence only when the person selling sex was a victim of trafficking or a minor.

The Department of Justice said that such a change in the legislation aimed to “shift the legal burden towards those who buy sex rather than the sellers, aiming to protect those most at risk within the sex industry”.

However, activists from Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) highlighted how there is no evidence in the report that active sex workers support the law. “No weight has been given to the voices of currently active sex workers in this review and there is scant evidence that sex workers were properly engaged in this process,” the group wrote in a statement.

 

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Un post condiviso da Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (@swaiireland)

“The review of the law governing sex work in Ireland is not worth the paper it’s written on,” said Linda Kavanagh, a spokesperson for SWAI. “From the start, this review has been conducted in the most unethical and frustrating way possible.”

While the review suggests that the sex work legislation is positive, SWAI argues that this position is not supported by evidence that suggests that such laws are actively harmful to sex workers.

“There is no way to police the purchase of sex without surveilling sex workers. This review supports wasting Garda resources and increasing surveillance powers. Is the Department of Justice going to ignore how Gardaí have abused their powers?” the statement further reads.

“Sex workers were written out of policies and strategy documents. Sex work is framed as gender-based violence instead of an economic activity, which ignores the autonomy of sex workers, removes their labour rights and neglects male workers altogether,” SWAI said.