Sir, – Following on from the various contributions to the debate about prostitution in you pages we would like to offer three points to this debate. We are two feminist scholars with expertise in the areas of prostitution, trafficking, migration and public policy.
First, the experiences of women (and men) in the sex trade are diverse. There are victims and there are those who do not see themselves as victims and do not seek help or protection.
Second, the so-called Swedish model does not work. It has reduced on-street prostitution significantly, but off-street activities have apparently grown. Migrant women are still showing up in the sector. There are profound difficulties in implementing the law to do with resources and the kinds of evidence needed for prosecutions.
Third, evidence from states the world over shows one thing: the desire to regulate prostitution through the criminal justice system systematically displaces and reproduces the activity in ways in which the seller of sex invariably comes off worst in the long run. Good public policy, likely to reach its goals, is much enhanced when it draws on evidence-based research and begins by conceptualising the problem in the round.
The problem is not simple and the solution is not either. – Yours, etc DR EILÍS WARD, NUI Galway. DR GILLIAN WYLIE, Trinity College Dublin. Sir, – The most oppressive element of sex work is the shortfall in our society that still leaves some people cornered in situations where they have no honest and viable economic alternative to selling sexual services whether they are comfortable with that or not.
There is no justification for “end demand” legislation aimed at destroying the market for sexual services until we, as a society, have first thoroughly ensured that we are not continuing to leave people cornered with no honest and viable options. – Yours, etc,
GAYE DALTON,
Donard,
Co Wicklow.