Madam, - Just how gullible do the tabloids think we are? To see Gerard Colleran (editor of the Star) pontificate on the sex trade and other sex abuse on women on Questions and Answers last night (May 8th) was nauseating in the extreme, considering 50 telephone numbers were advertised in the paper that day advocating sex favours from women.
All the tabloids devote numerous pages every day advertising sex and listing telephone numbers and yet use the front page to castigate and pontificate the wrongdoings of others.
Nauseating is the mildest word I can find appropriate. - Yours, etc,
Dr JAMES McDAID TD, Dáil Éireann, Dublin 2.
Madam, - Your front page on Saturday May 6th refers to the trafficking of women in unbelievable terms as a sex industry. Your feature writer Kitty Holland leaves us in no doubt as to what is involved and the shame which is ours as to our country's lack of action.
Of course, the extraordinary attitude of some sectors of Irish society towards prostitution in the case of some girls (of poor or well to do families) is shocking - parental care being limited in some cases to seeing that a condom is in possession of a family daughter or daughters leaving home for drinks on weekends. It is doubtful whether a son or sons receive similar attention. - Yours, etc,
RICHARD MAGRATH, Roebuck Road, Dublin 14.
Madam, - I have just watched the Prime Time Investigates programme ( May 9th) on trafficking of women and girls to Ireland for sex slavery.
I am very angry that the State is not dealing with this violation of human rights.
Ireland has failed to implement EU directives to criminalise trafficking.
There is no support or protection for the women and girls who manage to escape or are freed during raids.
There is no secure funding for Ruhama to continue and expand their work to support women in prostitution.
The Garda are not giving anything near adequate resources to deal with a crime which should be given a very high priority because of the devastating effect it has on women's lives.
It is a crime that women never fully recover from.
The message that the State's inaction gives to the traffickers and the men who buy sex is that it's OK to exploit and abuse women and children for sex and profit.
When the issue was raised on Questions and Answers some male panel members, including Mr Brian Cowen, referred to prostitution as "the oldest business in the world", as if to give an excuse for not dealing with the violence,exploitation and slavery on which the sex trade in Ireland is built. There is no excuse.
I am calling on the Government, the opposition and the Garda to take immediate action to stamp out abuse in the sex trade. - Yours, etc,
MARY CHANCE, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Following the Prime Time exposé on human trafficking of young women and girls into Ireland, I am outraged. Is the Government going to continue to bury its head and ignore this problem?
There should be no delay in the introduction of legislation to criminalise human trafficking in Ireland and to protect, not penalise, the victims of these heinous acts.
Without proper legislation the gardaí cannot act or with any effective means arrest and prosecute perpetrators. - Yours, etc,
DEIRDRE COSTELLO, Lower Kilmacud Road, Co Dublin.