Amnesty vote support decriminalisation of sex workers

Human rights organisation Amnesty International has voted to support the decriminalisation of prostitution.

At their International Council Meeting in Dublin earlier today, delegates voted to establish a policy aimed at protecting sex workers. They also recommended that they support the full decriminalisation of all aspects of sex work.

The Sex Workers Alliance of Ireland has welcomed the decision. Spokesperson Kate McGrew says under current laws, Irish sex workers who have been the victims of crime are afraid to report it.

The vote comes shortly after reports which suggest that pimps and prostitutes are moving into the Border counties after a crackdown on the sex trade in Northern Ireland came into force.

According to a study by the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) published in June, there was a 50 per cent rise in online sex trade activity in counties Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim and Louth following the introduction of new laws in the North which made it a crime for anyone to pay for sex.

Under the Northern Ireland legislation, anyone caught paying for sex faces up to a year in prison and a fine of £1,000.

Brian Killoran, chief executive of the ICI warned that the Border counties now face being used as a “safe haven” for sex traders in the absence of a similar ban by the Dublin government.