Amnesty International releases report on violence against sex workers in Ireland
25 January 2022
Illustration credit: Tamara-Jade Kaz
“Gardaí [police officers] never work alone, but sex workers can’t work together?”
– Adeline, sex worker
Amnesty International has today released a damning report on the conditions for sex workers in Ireland following the introduction of client criminalisation laws in 2017.
The report, which draws evidence from interviews with sex workers, sex worker-led and -serving organisations and representatives of the Irish authorities, notes that the laws make sex workers less safe, less trusting of the police (Gardaí), more likely to experience violence at the hands of individuals and the state, and more likely to experience stigma and discrimination on both a personal and institutional level.
The report makes multiple recommendations to those with the power to positively impact the lives of sex workers. Most important of these is inviting sex workers to have a seat at the table, to create the policies which impact their lives and shape them in a way that ensures their safety, inclusion and access to justice. Sex workers across the world are fighting for the ability to make meaningful policy change to improve their lives and conditions. It is up to those in power to listen to them.
“How about we try listening to the people who actually know what’s going on, who know what they’re talking about for once?”
– Kristina, sex worker
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