Who Really Pays for Pleasure: A Look at Irelands Sex Laws

By Deputy Editor In Chief Tiernán B. Ó Ruairc

In 1999 Sweden adopted a set of laws, which would later become known as the Nordic Model, which sought to put an end to sex work. Originally it was adopted to conform with the then popular “radical feminist” framework of thinking, which saw all forms of sex work as a form of sexual servitude. In the following quarter of a century another eight jurisdictions would implement this framework, in an attempt to curb the growth and power of the sexual service industry.

The Nordic Model focuses on the destigmatisation of sex workers, as a means to protect the people providing services from persecution. The framework surrounds the idea that all sex workers are victims. Therefore the Nordic Model, which is aptly called the ‘End Demand’ Laws, seeks to decriminalise the selling of sex, while criminalising the purchasing of sex and creation of brothels. 

When implemented in Ireland, the law changed so that the selling of oneself for sexual service was decriminalised but the purchase of sexual services, which includes any form of bartering and even the promise of material compensation for sexual services, was criminalised under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017. The new law criminalised brothels and any form of sex trade which involved multiple prostitutes providing services from the same premise,this strips the trade from one of its defining security features and further pushes the trade underground. Most importantly and what is one of the cornerstones of the Nordic Model is the criminalisation of third parties controlling and or profiting from the sex trade. This is what falls into the initial Swedish and continued international response and war on human trafficking. 

However, despite these attempts by governments to quell the negative experience of prostitutes and sex workers, organisations like Sex Workers Alliance of Ireland which effectively acts like a union for sex workers, has cited evidence which suggests that the Nordic Model does not in fact work. They claim that assaults on sex workers have increased by 90% since the 2017 Act which is backed up by interviews published in the Irish Examiner and The Irish Times. The reason behind this increase is due to the vulnerable position the criminalisation of the purchase of sexual services has left sex workers with a smaller customer base and it has forced the traditional screening procedure to be less stringent and or cut completely. 

Furthermore, the murder of Geila Ibram in 2023 highlighted the dangers for sex workers. When interviewed following the murder Linda Kavanagh, of the Sex Workers Alliance of Ireland, said “[the client] is the one at risk of criminal prosecution. To get the client’s money, a sex worker needs to make him feel safe and deprioritise their own safety." She noted that this further contributed to the reality that there are few genuine safeguards for sex workers in Ireland.

Habib Shamel was convicted for the crime in Belfast. It came to light during the investigation that the Gardaí had known of Shamel’s predatory nature and yet still failed to notify the sex work community, despite a system technically being in place for some time. For many this is seen as a symptom of the government legalising the trade which would provide workers with what Kavanagh described as basic human rights. Legalisation would of course also provide sex workers with the same workplace rights as a retail worker, which would therefore alleviate the violence and pressure felt and experienced by prostitutes.

The experience of sex workers is seen however not as an industry where men and women can come and go freely, as implied by a 26 year old interviewed on the anniversary of Geila Ibram death. She said that she went into the industry by choice because she “wanted to see how the other side lived”. This stance would run in conflict with the stance of course of the government and wider society that sex work and prostitution are in fact symptoms of other failings in the system, which include human trafficking and social decline.  

While sex work is seen by a small minority as an empowering experience to do what they want to do with their own bodies, the reality that remains is that most sex workers are victims of human trafficking or are in this position because they were trafficked under the guise of “travelling to a better life”. It is this issue that the Nordic Model attempts to resolve. The argument against it remains that the selling of one’s body cannot be done in sound body and mind despite what a minority of women say about it being liberating.

In  2018 a case involving a Nigerian woman showed the issue with legalising the sex trade. The case was the first conviction under the new laws, two women had been trafficked to the country and promised legitimate work upon arrival until they were coerced into sex work. One of the victims said in her statement to the Gardaí that she had been made to have sex with up to five men a day. This contrasts majorly to the interview of a 26 year old woman talking to the Irish Examiner, who said she did not provide a conveyor belt service and that she had a small clique of clients, a luxury provided to her because she had the choice to become a sex worker. A luxury that wouldn’t be provided if the trade became legalised. The legalisation of sex work does not make the trade squeaky clean. Even in the De Wallen district in Amsterdam, where they are famous for their tolerance and protection of sex workers, there remains a massive issue with coercion and trafficking, while partly due to the cities port, while being only the 14th largest port in Europe still creates an opportunity for traffickers and criminals to go about their activities.

The legalisation of the sex trade would benefit some, but still risk endangering a large part of the people who currently are forced to work as prostitutes via coercion. Possibly the Nordic System is the first step in improving several systems, not least our social care to prevent people having to work in this industry out of necessity.