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THE GOVERNMENT HAS confirmed that it is to make it a criminal offence to pay for sex.
The move follows a recommendation from the Oireachtas Justice Committee that the purchase of sexual service should be outlawed.
Justice Minster Frances Fitzgerald will make the formal announcement of the plan on Thursday when she will provide details of the forthcoming legislation.
It’s also been confirmed that there are no plans to change the age of consent from its current age of 17.
The criminalisation of the purchase of sex was recently introduced in Northern Ireland and has also been enacted in parts of the United States and in Canada. It’s been given the moniker of the ‘Swedish model’ because of its roots in the Nordic countries.
Last year in their ‘Report on the Review of the Legislation on Prostitution in Ireland’, the Oireachtas Justice Committee made several recommendations including that the purchase of sexual services should be made illegal.
Other recommendations they made included increased penalties for sex traffickers and punishments for visiting websites that advertise prostitution.
There has been debate about the merits of the new laws with some arguing that it forces the sex industry further underground and makes it more dangerous for sex workers.
To coincide with the introduction of Northern Ireland’s criminalisation, research by Queens University found that almost two-thirds of sex workers believe it would make them less safe and 85% said it would not reduce sex trafficking.
But today’s announcement of upcoming laws in the Republic has been welcomed by the Immigrant Council of Ireland who are part of the Turn Off The Red Light campaign which aims to criminalise the purchase of sexual services.
“We look forward to examining the details when the announcement is made on Thursday,” said CEO Denise Charlton. “It is our hope that the Minister will be taking the first step in a concerted effort to wreck the business model which has allowed pimps and traffickers to threaten and abuse women and girls in this country.”
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The media has a a vitally important democratic function to perform in making Trump and his current administration fully visible.
Media exposure will highlight what Trump is about.
@Johnny Leddin: only Trump worries about thumbs. It is his downfall.
@Tony Daly: like they did with clinton…right…
Exactly like Clinton. He was hounded by the media after his affair in office.
The media should be treated with contempt!
What do reporters think the new administration is playing at?…to me it seems like some sort of Bond plot where the obvious is a diversion to what is really going on…there are bigger things cooking in the background which they don’t want us to know about.
@winston smith: the focus is on Trump’s temperament at the moment and the increasing realisation that Trump is temperamentally unsuitable to be President of the US.
@Tony Daly: is that a fact or just your anti trump opinion….
Trump won because of a fawning uncritical ratings-driven media which gave him billions in free publicity.
@Were Jammin: he won because hillary took her eye of the ball and wouldn’t listen to the fears many people have in the US regarding immigration..she just called them all deplorables. That is a fact
@Were Jammin: he won because hillary took her eye of the ball and wouldn’t listen to the fears many people have in the US regarding immigration..she just called them all deplorables. That is a fact
@Were Jammin: Trump won because the media were uncritical of him – are you on drugs?
The media is ‘temperamentally unsuitable’ to cover the White House.
What’s most fascinating about this article is the constant use of “said one reporter” for even the most mundane observation. Did The Journal not get their names, or did the reporters insist on strict anonymity for reasons beyond my ken; or, more troublingly, does The Journal imagine itself a Player in DC political media who needs to keep their “sources” secret lest Trump’s team read this article?
The Media is frantically trying to do an about-face. From the time “President” nominated, they fawned over him because he gave them lots of meat and potatoes, encouraged by Murdoch, Kochs etc… Then, against all the pundits and odds, he became POTUS. 60+ days in, and the media are looking at themselves in horror, that they facilitated this Con Man get the Oval Office. Now, they’re falling over themselves to get him and his misbegotten, incompetent hangers-on out. There is enough blame to go around, so the media have now to start doing things right.
Surprised the Journal was allowed in.
You cannot hope to bribe or twist – thank God! – the average journalist…
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