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Here's how many men in Ireland say they have paid for sex

Very few women have, according to this survey.

ALMOST ONE-IN-TEN MEN in Ireland have paid for sex, according to a new survey, but respondents said they didn’t do it regularly.

It marks the launch of a new all-Ireland campaign calling for men and boys “to take a stand” against prostitution and sex-trafficking.

The Red C survey askeed more than thousand adults about prostitution and trafficking, and found that 88% of men have never paid for sex.

However, the 8% who have said they did not do it regularly, while 4% made no response.

The survey also showed that 99% of women have not paid for sex, however the remaining 1% did not respond to the question.

Today’s campaign, Prostitution – We Don’t Buy it, organised by The Reach Project – is calling for men both north and south of the Border to “make a stand against a trade that exploits women and girls, and which results in profits for criminal gangs”.

It aims to raise awareness that trafficking often leads to prostitution.

CEO of Ruhama Sarah Benson said:

Prostitution is the context where most sex trafficking occurs. This independent survey tells us that Irish people believe that the sex trade in Ireland is overwhelmingly organised with the majority of women linked to pimps and traffickers.

Supporting the launch of the campaign, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said public education and awareness is “vital” in “reducing the demand for the services of victims of trafficking”.

“We all have a role to play,” she said.

The survey found:

  • 79% of respondents believed criminal gangs or pimps profit most from prostitution and trafficking in Ireland.
  • 72% believe women who sell sex do so due to difficult circumstances.
  • 74% consider that women who sell sex have experienced some form of violence or abuse from sex buyers – women (77%) versus men (69%).

Read: Ireland’s ban on the purchase of sex will be challenged by a sex worker >

More: The sex trade is really cashing in on one of the world’s biggest tech conferences >

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    Mute Sergeant Yates
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:03 AM

    One in ten? – i’d say 9/10 .

    Wine, a meal, jewellery…. jaysus i’m paying for it every day of my life.

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    Mute Stiofán De Priondárgas
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:06 AM

    Your right, I recon 1/10 is getting a better deal!

    304
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    Mute Maggie
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:30 AM

    Haha.your wrspped

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    Mute Lorna Leatham
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:13 PM

    Lol, Sergeant Yates, that’s first thing I thought reading the heading!

    43
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    Mute The Guru
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:02 AM

    Legalise it, regulate and tax it. That would reduce police time spent enforcing the law, reduce if not eliminate trafficking and also bring in more tax money. Instead the arrogant fools in the Dáil think they can solve everything by making it illegal to pay for sex despite the fact that it has never worked anywhere. What a progressive nation.

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    Mute Frederick Constant
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:04 AM

    Thankfully we have Gurus like you to solve our problems.

    124
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    Mute Jordan O'Byrne
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:20 AM

    Life isn’t about living without problems. It’s about finding solutions. The ones posted above could be presented to the government and discussed with the relevant groups. The moral compass entities would have their say but their black and white view of the world rarely fits the grey reality.

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    Mute Shane Walsh
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:27 AM

    If it works in Germany surely it can work here.

    246
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    Mute OU812
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:37 AM

    And marijuana at the same time. We’re loosing so much potential revenue & costing so much money policing it.

    233
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    Mute Jake Race
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:32 AM

    Turn off the blue light!

    91
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    Mute Matt Connolly
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:47 AM

    fuggit – let’s legalise minor assaults and thefts up to a value of €500 – hardly worth prosecuting those too.

    66
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    Mute Con Manne
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:05 AM

    Take enough dube you won’t care about prostitutes.

    22
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    Mute Deaglán MacThóirdealbaigh
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 1:22 PM

    Matt, in what world is getting the ride the same as being mugged

    65
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    Mute Gearóid Ó Briain
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 3:12 PM

    Matt – Them crimes have a victim, who is the victim of prostitution or smoking weed? Nobody. What you are suggesting is silly and in no way compares to what we are talking about.

    When people get prosecuted for smoking cannabis they have to pay a victim surcharge, because there has to be a victim for a crime to take place. You know who the victim of cannabis smoking is? The state apparently. This country is so far behind the rest of the world in every way it is actually embarrassing.

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    Mute Richard boyle
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 3:30 PM

    Temple bar ?

    2
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    Mute Dave Harris
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    Apr 26th 2015, 12:54 AM

    The victims in prostitution and using drugs are mostly caused by the illegality of it – letting criminals run and make huge profits from it/them.

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    Mute Martello Mulligan
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:52 AM

    Ten years ago 79 per cent of respondents thought bankers were honest. What Joe Public thinks about any profession is not necessarily an accurate picture of the profession.

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    Mute Frederick Constant
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:53 AM

    Spot on. The average punter on the street hasn’t a clue about much. That’s why s/he’s average. Easily led, gullible and malleable.

    108
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    Mute #COYBIB
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 1:39 PM

    76% of all statistics are made up though…

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    Mute Sean keeling
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    Apr 25th 2015, 6:52 PM

    Prostitution works in many EU city’s legally in a controlled environment, while I’ll whole heartedly hope no one ever wants to grow up to be one or ever put in a position to have to be one, if some does its not my place to judge, I can only hope their safe and their clients treat them with respect.

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    Mute Sean keeling
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    Apr 25th 2015, 6:54 PM

    And those surveyed numbers are rather useless, it would be better to survey women/men involved in the trade and find how they got involved

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    Mute Ron North
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    Apr 25th 2015, 7:09 PM

    The 76% figure is incorrect, it’s closer to 65%.

    3
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    Mute Frederick Constant
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:06 AM

    Why not run one of de Journal’s world-famous, scientifically-accurate polls on this?

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    Mute Sergeant Yates
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:08 AM

    ‘Tis on the way.

    77
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    Mute Timber Planks
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:20 AM

    Because it would no doubt disagree with the extremely bias statistics in this article!

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    Mute Bart Renolds
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:21 AM

    Should be legalised ! Regulate it . I know someone who’s disabled who never had a sex life till he met an escort .

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    Mute Niall Mullane
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:06 AM

    Put the cat out, walk the dogs, cut the grass. Those bins ant not going to move themselves. We never stop paying for it.

    157
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    Mute Mr. Dave
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:26 AM

    So, a person can go to a massuse and have their entire body massaged after they agree a fee, but he/she touched the genitals it’s an illegal act?
    Legalise and tax for ffs!

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    Mute Joseph O'Regan
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:48 AM

    I am very left wing when it comes to sex …I think it should be free.

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    Mute Eddie Grady Grady
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:14 AM

    The oldest profession in the world. .

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    Mute Maggie
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:30 AM

    Paying or getting it

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    Mute Joanna
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:01 AM

    Why do people keep saying that? I thought making and trading tools was the oldest profession.

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    Mute Patrick Mcauliffe
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:53 AM

    No we were doing it while we were still in caves, hunting and gathering.

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    Mute Con Manne
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:08 AM

    Ok joanna…what’s your best offer?

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    Mute Emily Elephant
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:11 PM

    Joanna – We have no evidence really. By profession we generally mean someone who does it full time in the expectation of being paid in some form, i.e. that is how they provide for themselves. There’s anthropological evidence that our female ancestors traded sex for meat. Does that count? Depends how you define it. We don’t know when people started making tools for others.

    The first full time recognised profession was most probably shamanism.

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    Mute Patrick Mcauliffe
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 1:00 PM

    My fist of berries first honey! ! ££

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    Mute bo jangles
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:10 AM

    I personally think the men that do it are weirdos. How sad must you be to enjoy having sex with someone that doesn’t even like you? You can’t even say that they just want some intimacy because there’s nothing intimate about it for the reason I said above. As for the women…. If you’ll sell you’re body for a couple of quid to let someone that probably disgusts have there way then there’s not much lower you can go.

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    Mute Sergeant Yates
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:14 AM

    @bo jangles – what about men who are unable to meet a woman (for a host of reasons) to have intimate relations with? If the woman consents and makes a few bob out of it, tax man gets a cut – what’s the problem? – Legalise it and regulate it – its the worlds oldest profession (after accountancy of course).

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:17 AM

    They may well be weirdos, but it’s important for weirdos to have an outlet and these women are doing a service for society by fulfilling their needs and keeping them at bay.

    We’ve seen in recent years some of the things that happen when people don’t have a sexual outlet, but we would prefer to turn a blind eye because the solution is unpalatable (and involves talking frankly about sex – Heaven forbid)

    These women deserve a lot more respect than they get, and should be protected through regulation, rather than treated as a scourge.

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    Mute Bob Beaman
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:22 AM

    Oh you can lower alright. A lot lot lower. I know this guy who went really low one time.

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    Mute Con Manne
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:07 AM

    You’re obviously single bo. I have sex all the time with a woman who doesn’t like me. We’re business like about it tho’, I pay at the end of the month.

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    Mute Paulie5waulie
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:16 AM

    How long ya married con?

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    Mute Con Manne
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:47 PM

    35 years Paulie. Please be gentle. I’ve suffered enough!

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    Mute Kate
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:33 PM

    It’s surprising how after being intimate with someone you feel like you do know someone you have never met before. Maybe it is the oxytocin? I’m not sure, but I often lie cuddled up towards the end of a booking with a big smile on my face and feeling like I’ve just made a new friend.

    It may not last, but does that matter? It doesn’t make the feeling any less real or intense and if this didn’t happen, why would so many sex workers get regulars? You grow to like someone and enjoy their company and beyond that… it doesn’t matter. It’s a transaction that works for both parties and no one is hurt and no one needs rescuing.

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    Mute John Mac
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:35 AM

    1. The number of men who say that they have paid for sex and the number of men who ACTULLY have paid for sex are two seperate things.

    2. Has anyone seen the survey as a question i’d like to find out is what % age of respondents support the criminalisation of prostitution and what %age favour prostitutes having maximum rights?
    I must admit that i find it suspicious that such a %age isn’t listed even though it would be an obvious question. Considering TORL serial abuse of statistics , i’d be very wary of anything that they claim as fact.

    3. Who set the questions? As we all know,surveys by any organisation be set deliberately to lead the respondent to favourable answers.

    4. The survey suggests that the sex trade is a lot smaller than TORL have been routinely stating .Haven’t we been told that the sex trade iin Ireland is worth more than €250 million per year .Clearly that figure is as pie-in-the-sky as most of Ruhama/ICI/TORL/Whatever NGO today are called , usually purports to be fact.

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    Mute Deco James Connolly
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:28 AM

    In fairness you desperately sad eejits having sex with a woman whose had ten clients before you ,ffs lads get some self esteem and a girlfriend .

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    Mute Le Tigre
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:41 AM

    How many people is a woman allowed to have sex with before she becomes untouchable?

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    Mute John Mac
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:45 AM

    I think there’s a big difference in motives by man to meet a sex worker and having a girlfrirnd. I’d hope the reason for having a girlfriend is friendship,loyalty,possibility of a r/ship together and presumably sex. The reason a man visits a sex worker is no-strings attached sex .

    Different motivations . That should be obvious although implicit in your post,Deco, is that sex is the only reason you have a girlfriend and that somehow carries more ‘self-esteem’

    The reason a perosn has a one-night stand is exactly the same as visiting a sex worker. In the former , both parties use each other for a compartmentalised sexual experience – in the latter , the buyer pays a ‘fee’ agreed to by the seller for such an experience. If both parties are happy with the terms, its nobody else’s business.

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    Mute Emily Elephant
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:12 PM

    42

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    Mute Emily Elephant
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:20 PM

    @John Mac – Belle de Jour made oodles of cash by offering the “girlfriend experience”. The clients were typically busy people who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) find time to find a real one. Or perhaps (she didn’t say this) they preferred the company of someone who was explicit about the financial nature of the transaction rather than the she-leeches who tend to hang around city bars.

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    Mute Deco James Connolly
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 2:45 PM

    She can have sex with as many as she wants, i just can’t get over the thought of having sex with a woman who has had ten men before me that day.

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    Mute John Mac
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 4:31 PM

    Thats fair enough – Personally, i wouldn’t have much interest in going to an orgy / gangbang but i certainly shoildn’t be allowed to tell adult men or women how many partners in a night they should have.

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    Mute Amy Wallis
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:22 AM

    Just legalise it. It would be safer for everyone involved and even the government would be happy because they’d be able to tax it. There’s nothing wrong with a person selling sex willingly. People sell their bodies for fighting every day in boxing, wrestling, experiments, even the military.

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    Mute sistersue
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:51 AM

    I think this attitude is just so ignorant!

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    Mute John Mac
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:20 PM

    Sistersue, i think the views of women in prostitution SHOULD be at the forefront of any type of legislation regarding prostitution . And the only indpenedent survey done on the island was provided by Queens University in Belfast last year when 98% of the 170+ sex workers that spoke rejected criminalisation in favour of a right-based approach.
    Needless to say,TORL disregard those sentiments whilst simultaneously ,cra thumping about giving these women their dignity and esteem (but obv uninterested in their views).

    Then again TORL routinely cover up increased trafficking ,adlt prostitution and child prostitution in Sweden to claim ‘Swedish success’ so there’s not really anything surprising in what they spin. e.g. from last summer
    http://www.thelocal.se/20140725/police-ignore-slave-trade-gothenburg-sweden
    Can you imagine if this was an Irish repoort by the Gardai ,what mileage TORL would get out of it ? But its Swedish ,so its ignored.

    And considering Ruhama still won’t pony up compensation for women they abused in the Magdalenes , they’ve some neck to talk about ‘helping women’ . Its all about ideology and grant €€€€€

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    Mute Le Tigre
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:05 AM

    It’s a disgrace that we force men to travel abroad to access the safe, legal sexual services they need. It’s time to trust men.

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 5:09 PM

    Paraphrasing, le Tigre,
    It could do with a little more work, but you’re on to something.
    Pro-choice but only for certain choices.

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    Mute Sabrina Nolan
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 1:55 PM

    The public don’t need to be “educated” by Ruhama. For Ruhama to be instructing people about sex work is akin to the National Front instructing us about immigration.

    The issue of trafficking is used as a Trojan horse by Ruhama and others who have a problem with consenting adults having sex where money happens to be involved. There is more trafficking in agriculture.

    There are countless sex workers who are not victims of trafficking, not victims of force or coercion and want what they do seen as real work. Ruhama and the Immigrant Council of Ireland haven’t once given sex workers the respect they deserve and haven’t acknowledged a very large number of them who wish to have their work recognised. Also the vast majority of sex workers are opposed to disgusting backward criminalising of their clients.

    It is no surprise that misperceptions about sex work exist out there when the media often parrots biased rubbish, misrepresentations and hearsay from Ruhama and other abolitionists. The last thing we need is more unhelpful spreading of misperceptions from Ruhama.

    The same subjective criteria that is used against consensual sex work could equally be used against homosexuality, the sale of condoms or in favour of censorship.

    Should a person with a disability who visits an escort (who is completely in control- it is possible) for some intimacy and companionship end up with a criminal record all for the sake of a vanity project. Of course people like that can eat cake.

    https://maggiemcneill.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/frequently-told-lies/

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    Mute Ciaran Burke
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 2:11 PM

    I read somewhere recently, that the Dutch government subsidize people with disability’s 12 times a year, to go to sex workers and it has improved depression statistics among the disabled drastically. Personally despise anyone who would exploit a person E.G. human traffickers. However what someone does with their own body is their business and should not be legislated for in my opinion. besides almost everyone would be locked up after Valentines day for trading gifts for sexual favors if draconian laws go through. If government want to legislate for sex workers, then they should actually talk to sex workers the very people that new laws would impact. New laws would have a knock on effect it would increase poverty among the most vulnerable in society those now unable to earn a living. It would increase court costs to the prosecute those convicted, as well as cost the state in prison costs to keep people locked up. It would give a person a criminal record reducing the likelihood that they could ever get into other forms of employment. It is my view that it should be legalized and taxed.

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    Mute Francie Coffey
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 2:15 PM

    Well put, Sabrina.

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    Mute Brian Gormley
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:25 AM

    Legalize it and make it affordable for everyone then maybe the old headache epidemic would disappear

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    Mute johnr
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:26 AM

    Is it just me or does everyone lie on surveys.

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    Mute Con Manne
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:14 AM

    According to a RedC poll, 51.7% of people lie.

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    Mute Maggie
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:31 AM

    Most ly men claiming they are married to prostitutes on this hahahaha

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    Mute Jack Delaney
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:29 AM

    I’ve been paying for it since the day I got married. One way or another, your gonna pay!

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    Mute Kool Tiger
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:50 AM

    The sex industry exists and is never, ever going away no matter how many auld biddies or uptight morons object. Most sensible thing to do is legalise and regulate it so the workers are protected and the clients also by being able to get sexual relief in safe environment form workers who are regularly tested for STD’s.
    Also, not all the women who provide these services are repulsed by their clients as some of these women really do enjoy their job and get more then money out of it, saying all sex workers are exploited and abused is total rubbish.

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    Mute sistersue
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:54 AM

    The majority of those who are human trafficked are absolutely exploited and abused, http://www.stoptraffick.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/STOP-TRAFFICK-full-report.pdf

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    Mute Kool Tiger
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:56 AM

    But not all sex workers are trafficked, those trafficked are in the minority and the traffickers need to be stopped.

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    Mute sistersue
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:01 PM

    Of course not all are trafficked, many others that are in the industry are not there by choice tho, a majority are forced. Have you research or first hand knowledge otherwise? or are these just personal views?

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    Mute Lylucifer
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:07 PM

    You are so deluded. No woman who sells sex enjoys it. You’re a fool if you think otherwise.

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    Mute Kool Tiger
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:09 PM

    Sue, please show me the research that says the majority are forced? A very small number of sex workers do this job against their will, those who are forced to do so need rescuing but please stop painting all women as victims because they choose a job you don’t agree with

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    Mute Kool Tiger
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:30 PM

    Yes Sue, but trafficked workers are a very tiny minority. Why is it so difficult for you to understand that there are women on the planet who choose and enjoy sex work and they will happily agree they are not exploited or abused and they enjoy the mega earnings some of them can make

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    Mute sistersue
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:42 PM

    I dont find it hard to accept I just havnt any research on those women who choose and enjoy sex work! the article is about raising awareness “make a stand against a trade that exploits women and girls, and which results in profits for criminal gangs”. so I dont think the picture your painting of women choose this lifestyle to maintain a lavish lifestyle helps. Anyway the article and survey is obviously in no way representative of you.

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    Mute Kool Tiger
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 1:17 PM

    All kinds of men use the services of sex workers even good looking hot fitties, sex workers are human and are capable of enjoying sex even when they are being paid for it. It is possible to enjoy sex with random people without being in a loving relationship, non sex working women have casual sex all the time sometimes with strangers, only difference is they don’t get paid for it.

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    Mute sistersue
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 1:36 PM

    Ha ha oh lordy thanks for that little lesson on casual sex, I never mentioned any opinion on casual sex cos that is so off point!!prostitution is not sexual liberation for women! im not sure there is much validity to your opinions just more of personal preference that justifies your life choices to yourself. Anyway we have different outlooks on gender equality morals values and norms so this is going nowhere. bye

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    Mute Wendy Lyon
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 2:01 PM

    Here’s what someone who was polled for this survey has to say about it

    https://feministire.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/wnbi4.png

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    Mute Paul Raven
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:42 AM

    Does this include buying a round of drinks in a Bar on a Saturday night.

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    Mute John Mac
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:52 AM

    No – ‘buying a woman’ with compliments ,drinks ,insincerity and bullshit is not included in the survey .
    As apparently that’s the respectable way to have no strings attached sex with a woman who may then have sex for free . But if she has the temerity to charge somebody for sex,then clearly she’s a victim.

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    Mute sistersue
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:41 AM

    wow pretty shocked at the responses here! if prostitution is such a desirable job, why are 97% in Ireland migrants.why are Irish women not so interested, your sisters mothers female friends? Many are forced into this either physically or through economic hardship. Do you really think many women dreamed of ben a prostitute when they grow up!! How many of you actually educate yourself on how prostitution and human trafficking for sexual exploitation actually effects these women!!!! they are real women.Real people. Yes there are a minority whom willingly participate in prostitution however this is not representative of the majority. http://www.stoptraffick.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Stop-Traffick-Learning-Toolkit.pdf

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    Mute Kool Tiger
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:53 AM

    Cop on Sue and stop this rubbish that all sex workers are exploited and victims as that is not at all the case. There are very many highly educated sex workers who choose to do this job when they could be doing what you might call a respectable job but they CHOOSE to do this instead and some even enjoy their work

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    Mute sistersue
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:57 AM

    I said the majority in Ireland are! If you can show me research of those that CHOOSE this in Ireland I would absolutely read it!

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    Mute Kool Tiger
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:05 PM

    Sue, please show me the research that says the majority of sex workers are exploited in Ireland? If they didn’t choose to it they would be being held down and raped against their will which doesn’t ahppen very often. These women do it for financial reasons, you know the same as most of us get up in the morning and go to our boring desk jobs. It’s a job and many enjoy their job, claiming majority are doing so against their will is rubbish

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    Mute sistersue
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:19 PM

    ‘On average 1000 women are available
    for sale on any given day, and the vast majority of them are migrants of poor economic
    means and other vulnerabilities.’ http://www.turnofftheredlight.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/TORL-Joint-Submission-.pdf
    Unfortunately many are often abused raped threatened with violence. This research is real. It is not scaremongering. I cant accept the attitude of ‘its just another job’. Its not, we are all human and know that thats just not the case. It has been criminalised in Sweden because they see it as sexual domination and the essence of women’s oppression. This is the leading society for gender equality in the Western world. Why do you find it so acceptable that in this day and age you find you have an entitlement to buy a womens body?

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    Mute Kool Tiger
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:25 PM

    Sue, I think I will support this powerful Irish sex workers campaign over your rubbish about women being victims and abused because they choose a job you don’t agree with, see below a woman who is actually doing something positive for the sex industry instead of blaming men because women sell themselves.
    http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/22/sex-worker-to-launch-legal-challenge-against-ni-prostitution-ban

    A sex worker is using European human rights legislation to try to overturn a new law in Northern Ireland that makes it illegal to pay for prostitutes.

    Dublin-born law graduate Laura Lee is launching an unprecedented legal challenge that could go all the way to Strasbourg, against a human trafficking bill which includes banning the payment for sex among consenting adults.

    The region is the only part of the UK where people can be convicted of paying for sex. The law, which was championed by Democratic Unionist peer and Stormont assembly member Lord Morrow, comes into effect on 1 June.

    Lee told the Guardian she will launch her case at the high court in Belfast in the same month as the law comes into effect.

    The justice minister, David Ford, has already warned that the Police Service of Northern Ireland may not be able to convict men contacting prostitutes for sex because intercept evidence from clients’ mobile phones would be inadmissible in the courts.

    Lee, 37, said: “I am doing this because I believe that when two consenting adults have sex behind closed doors and if money changes hands then that is none of the state’s business. The law they have introduced has nothing to do with people being trafficked but simply on their, the DUP’s, moral abhorrence of paid sex.

    “I believe that after June 1st, sex workers’ lives in Northern Ireland will actually be harder and the industry will be pushed underground.”

    Lee, who lives in Edinburgh but travels to Belfast and Dublin to see clients, said her legal team would be referencing several articles of the European convention on human rights to challenge and overturn Morrow’s law.

    http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/22/sex-worker-to-launch-legal-challenge-against-ni-prostitution-ban

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    Mute sistersue
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:31 PM

    okay, thats good for her, i dont believe she is a representative of the majority tho. I dont disagree with prostitution tho, I just believe many that are in it are been exploited. but i dont know all the facts, thats just my informed opinion so far from my research

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    Mute John Mac
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 1:10 PM

    Ok sistersue – can you please tell everybody on how ‘enddemand’ policies actually addresses the financial hardship that requires women to sell sex? The reason women sell sex (happy or not) is because they can make more money out of relatively unskilled labour than any other options available.

    How many people grew up dreaming of working in McDonalds ? or marrying an abusive partner? or drowning in sea of mortgage debt?Should we ban loans, min paid jobs or marriage just in case people find themselves living a life far removed from that they aspired to when they were kids.

    And how has criminalisation helped women in prostitution in the US where such policies have operated for over 100 years? As said earlier , 98% of sex workers reject such policies advocated by TORL.

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    Mute John Mac
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 1:17 PM

    Hi Sistersue,

    Please google Queens University Belfast Research prostitution and you’ll find said independent report – there are no independent reports other than that here in Ireland.

    The Immigration Council of Ireland provided one in 2009 ( financed by Sisters of Mercy) .
    But as i said, no Independent report except the QUB.

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    Mute John Mac
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 4:41 PM

    So the same TORL campaign that wants to introduce the Swedish Model ,and systemically has covered up the amount of increased adult and child prostitution and trafficking in Sweden and you think thats ok.

    Regarding Sweden’s Gender Equality : http://feministire.com/2014/04/03/we-need-to-talk-about-swedens-problem-with-rape-and-consent/

    The vast majority of women in prostitution ARE migrants of at least lesser means : please explain how criminalisation of clients will arrest their poor means ? And please explain why overwhelmingly those women want rights not criminalisation.

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    Mute Kate
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:38 PM

    You make a good point, Where the euro is so much weaker in some countries, where you can pay your rent for less than 40e per month and yet you can make 80e for half an hour work in Ireland, would you not be tempted?

    Some ladies have had houses built and furnished for them within a couple of years of working in Ireland back in their own country. These are countries that do not have the same values with sex as in Ireland. Places where sex is seen as recreational and not committed to marriage, so for them it is not a huge sacrifice, but a means to an end and a very quick end compared to what they would have in most occupations, if possible at all any other way.

    People forget that other countries have different views on sex and what is morally wrong in one country, is seen as just one of those things in another. Judge people by the consent they give and not on how you feel!

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    Mute Matthew Donoghue
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:24 AM

    Paying someone to give stress relief through an orgasm is wrong!!!

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    Mute UndercoverGarda
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:44 PM

    But it feels so right.

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 6:56 PM

    Who are you married to, lol.

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    Mute Kate
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:29 PM

    It’s not all about the orgasm, as masturbation would do that. It’s about many things, including human contact, talking to someone who will listen, feeling desired, mutual interest and understanding and feeling wanted in a sexual and mental way. The ‘companionship’ word is not just a rouse to get people to accept sex workers, it’s a very real part of the work. Also ‘time’, so many people these days don’t make time for each other and they have forgotten how to listen. the orgasm is often a result of a release of tension, relaxation and enjoyment of being with someone who cares.

    People think men don’t have feelings, even men think men don’t have feelings, but in my experience it is quite the reverse and they have just learnt to accept their feelings don’t matter, but that doesn’t mean it is true and they very much do, hence sex workers always having work and many having regulars that return for years on end, because the person they see makes them feel complete.

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    Mute Joe O'Brien
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 11:18 AM

    Look officer… I didn’t know the prostitute was a cop.

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    Mute Alan Ball
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 10:39 AM

    To be honest.. I think the number is a bit high. By all means react to a problem..but overreaction and lies are just adding to the problem.I would love to see the figures for this estimate .The who ,where and when of the survey is vague to say the least.

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    Mute Kate
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 9:20 PM

    What about the fact that some women make their livelihood in this way and by making a stand, you could be jeopadising their income and welfare? Far more sex workers work willingly than not, yet this seems to be ignored? Most clients seek those that work of their own free will, again this is ignored. Why is that? Don’t these people matter? Don’t they have a right to make a living in the way they see fit?

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    Mute John Flavin
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 7:47 PM

    Read between the lies …………

    Why didn’t the media balance this issue and seek the opinions of the Sex Workers Alliance of Ireland (SWAI) or ask current sex workers for their views rather than rely on the lies, gross exaggerations, myths and propaganda of Turn Off the Red Light and their associates: Ruhama and the Immigrant Council of Ireland?

    Cork Feminista, upon being briefed on the true state of affairs of prostitution by sex worker Kate McGrew, withdrew their support for TORL. We need more organisations/people to follow the example of Cork Feminista.

    Funny how we’ve heard nothing about prostitution for months but suddenly it all kicks off again conveniently two months before the criminalisation of sex purchasers comes into force in Northern Ireland. TORL don’t really care about sex trafficking, they just want to abolish prostitution period. Publicly they pretend it’s all about the victims but privately they just want to end prostitution. Ask any sex worker what kind of help she/he received from Ruhama once they revealed that they didn’t actually want to exit prostitution. The continual conflation of consensual sex work with human trafficking is the biggest lie ever told. When the recent Queens University survey revealed the true facts behind prostitution of course TORL immediately attempted to rubbish and discredit their findings.

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    Mute liam walsh
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 12:26 PM

    I’d say 1 in 10 never paid for sex.

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 6:56 PM

    Everyone that pays for drink for a woman on a weekend night out, seem to hope to, is that not paying for sex… lol.

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    Mute May Ni Riain
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 7:19 PM

    What does it matter what people believe? Is it not more relevant to find out if its true?

    Rather than tell us what people think might be happening perhaps they should be researching whats actually going one?

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    Mute Charles Williams
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    Apr 26th 2015, 8:06 AM

    Poor men have prostitutes, rich men have mistresses. Now, both pay for the privilege but somehow mistresses do not carry the negative conatations. Strange old world.

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    Mute Graham O Fiach
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    Apr 26th 2015, 11:01 AM

    So the survey asks people who according to their own survey have no involve or knowledge of this area…. And ask them if they think it’s run by pimps and if they believe they suffer violent attacks…. Sounds like a Joe Duffy caller

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Apr 22nd 2015, 6:58 PM

    What % lied??? lol.

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