THE LONG-AWAITED review into sex work legislation won’t be published until next year – more than four years after its initial deadline.
The report was recently completed after numerous delays but won’t be published until 2025, The Journal has confirmed.
Stakeholders hoped the report would be published before the end of the year, but the general election has further delayed the process.
The review is expected to be presented to the new government post-election and published soon afterwards.
“The review is expected to be published in early 2025,” a spokesperson for the Department of Justice said.
The report was initially due to be published in 2020, but was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In summer 2021, solicitor Maura Butler SC was tasked with overseeing the review. She was originally due to publish her report within three months.
However, repeated delays occurred including Butler being tasked with overseeing a separate review into murder-suicides following the death of that review’s original lead Norah Gibbons.
Earlier this year, Justice Minister Helen McEntee confirmed that officials in her department had been tasked with completing the review. Much of the research was done, but the report itself was not written.
Linda Kavanagh, spokesperson for Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI), told The Journal she is not surprised by the latest delay, describing the entire process as “farcical”.
Kavanagh believes the review was not a priority for the outgoing government, stating: “If there was a will to do this, it would have happened by now.
It’s not shocking that they’ve kicked the can down the road, this is now going to be a new government’s issue.
The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act was contentious when it came into effect in 2017.
The legislation made paying for sexual services a criminal offence. Previously, paying for sexual services was only criminal if the person selling sex was either a victim of trafficking or a minor.
Under this law it is not an offence to receive money in exchange for sexual services. However, it is against the law to advertise such services.
SWAI has long called for the full decriminalisation of sex work, saying the current model puts workers at risk.
The alliance says many sex workers would prefer to work together – rather than alone – due to safety concerns. However, many are forced to work alone as, under the current law, if they work together, they could be charged with running a brothel.
Kavanagh said not all sex workers are vulnerable, but many are.
“I don’t want to say that everyone in sex work is vulnerable, that’s not true.
But the people who really need this review – who are really, really affected by this law – are more vulnerable.
She said the failure to publish the review to date “shows the de-prioritisation of people, mostly women, of marginalised communities, of LGBTQ community, trans people, homeless people, people in addiction, people with mental health issues”.
“Sex work is the type of economic activity that people do because they are marginalised already. It’s an option for them, possibly when they don’t have a lot of options.”
Kavanagh said, once the report is finally published, SWAI is willing to work with the Department of Justice to improve the legislation.
A spokesperson for the department said sex workers were involved throughout the review – participating in each stage of the consultation process via a survey, written submissions and interviews.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say