IRISH FOOTBALL FANS are being urged not to use the services of prostitutes when abroad for the Euro 2012 games this month.
Labour Women is urging Irish soccer fans travelling to the games not to use prostitutes during the games in Poland, as part of the Europe-wide campaign Together for a Europe free from prostitution.
The campaign aims to combat prostitution and raise awareness of the harm done by prostitution.
Katherine Dunne, Labour Women Chair, commented:
We know that demand for the sex trade goes up during big games. In 2006, the European Parliament stated that: ‘Experience has shown that any major sporting event at which large numbers of people congregate results in a temporary and spectacular increase in the demand for sexual services’. We are asking Irish fans to continue being the best fans in the world and not use any prostitutes during their stay in Poland.
Dunne added that the European Women’s Lobby, who are spearheading the Together for a Europe free from prostitution campaign, quotes figures which illustrate the violence against those in prostitution.
Seventy three per cent of women in prostitution report having been subjected to physical aggressions while in prostitution. Sixty eight per cent of women in prostitution meet the criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the same range as victims of torture. Sixty two per cent of women in prostitution report having been raped.
Dunne added that Labour women are asking Irish fans “not to put any money in the pockets of the pimps who control the sex industry”.
The murky world of the sex trade is one of violence, money and crime. Let’s not support it.
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