Sir, – The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2016 finally targets the men who pay for sex, as opposed to variants on the traditional model which enables ongoing abuse of vulnerable persons.
Misogyny can be subtle as well as brutal. The concept that 6 per cent of men’s sexual wishes should be serviced by a shunned subsection of societally-hampered women is shockingly offensive, but has nonetheless become an acceptable trope in places where otherwise people clamour for social justice and human rights.
Selling women and girls is lucrative, and much is invested in protecting the business. The sex industry is heavily vested in sanitising ugly realities.
I hope we learn from mistakes of previous eras in relation to sex abuse and pass this legislation on this occasion. I congratulate the Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald on her tenacity in withstanding lucrative vested interests, rightly alarmed at a world trend to redress the balance against them.
– Yours, etc,
KAREN DUGGAN
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.