September 25, 2023, 10:26:55

Author Topic: First arrest made under Northern Ireland's new offence of paying for sex  (Read 12477 times)

Offline Elrond

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Its been a long time coming, the first arrest of a client for purchasing sex in Norther Ireland has happened.   A similar law will be implemented in Southern Ireland shortly.  Now this has happened will this start making clients more wary, or is it a one off and that the man was court up in the brothel raid and the police had little option other than arrest him  The PCNI were against this law.  The same can't be said about the Republic of Ireland where the Gardai will probably implement the law to its utmost. 

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Chief constable reveals man and three women have been arrested in brothel raid as sex worker steps up legal fight to overturn controversial law.

A man in Northern Ireland has become the first person in the UK arrested for purchasing sex. The chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, George Hamilton, said detectives had detained the man during a raid on a brothel.

Speaking to the policing board in Belfast, Hamilton said: “Detectives from our human trafficking team conducted a brothel search and arrested a man for paying for sexual services, the first such arrest under section 15 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act 2015. Three females were also arrested and interviewed for keeping a brothel.” Hamilton declined to say where the arrest took place or name the man or three women detained.

Northern Ireland 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, came into effect on 1 June this year. It had been opposed by the region’s justice minister, David Ford, as well as an alliance of sex workers.

The Dublin-born law graduate and sex worker Laura Lee has launched an unprecedented challenge against the law that could go all the way to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg. She has started a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for the challengewith the backing of the charity Ugly Mugs, which helps sex workers obtain access to justice.

Lee, who lives in Edinburgh but travels to Belfast and Dublin to see clients, said her legal team would reference several articles of the European convention on human rights to challenge and overturn Morrow’s law. “First of all, we will need to exhaust domestic remedies starting in the Belfast high court, possibly going to the supreme court, the House of Lords and eventually the European court of human rights.

“There are several articles that we can look at, starting with article 8 that governs the right to privacy. We will also focus on article 2 that concerns the right to life and we will argue that this law puts sex workers’ safety at risk by the fact the legislation will drive the trade further and further underground.

“And then article 3 is about protection from degrading treatment, which is very relevant because in Scotland police have been subjecting sex workers to terrible things, such as strip-searching women working in Edinburgh saunas. Our legal team will also refer to the right to earn a living enshrined in the European social charter.”

A parallel campaign is ongoing in the Irish Republic to introduce a similar bill to Morrow’s, which would outlaw the purchase of sex south of the border.

The Northern Ireland assembly passed Morrow’s law by 81 to 10 votes last year. Sex workers argue that the legislation will drive sex work further underground and further endanger the lives of prostitutes.

If you have any spare cash, you can fund Laura at this url https://www.gofundme.com/3rikpo
Elrond

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Offline toby88

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There is probably more to this, than is first apparent, as are most things, involving governments.

History, has demonstrated that.

Offline Boobalicious

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Offline shiwarrior

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so, your not allowed to escort in NI any more ?

good news for us Brits then, we get more women !!  8) 8)
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Offline Elrond

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so, your not allowed to escort in NI any more ?

good news for us Brits then, we get more women !!  8) 8)

You can sell, you can't buy.   The police actually don't want to implement this law.

Actually alot of escorts make a good living touring NI and the republic.  The proces used to be a bit higher there.  I believe the prices have dropped back a bit.
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Offline shiwarrior

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you can sell but no one can buy?


how does that work then lol
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Offline Elrond

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Well badly.  Its called the Nordic Model, or Swedish Model, or Sex Buyers Law.  It first was introduced in Sweden 15 years ago, crossed over to Norway and was last implemented in Iceland, Canada, then NI.

France has been trying to implement the same law, but keeps being chucked out by the Senate (like the house of Lords)

Several Labour MSPs in Scotland have tried to introduce the legislation in Scotland over the last 5 years.

It will be introduced in the Republic of Ireland.

It is the European Parliament strategic way forward on prostitution.  A vote instigated by Mary Honeyball was passed in the European Parliament 2 years ago.   This said that prostitution was violence against women, and basically all European countries should work towards the Swedish Model,

It is the favourite of the abolitionists.  They say decriminalize the seller, and criminilise the Pimps and Johns. The reasoning is that women (they forget the men who sell) are coerced, forced and somehow driven into selling sex.  So don't arrest and prosecute them when they sell sex.  Instead prosecute all the clients.  In this way the seller does not get a criminal record and can get a different job.  The client though is prosecuted, embarrassed so won't risk buying sex.  This reduces the demand, and the sex industry ends.

What the abolitionists don't get is this policy causes several problems.

Women work in more risky environments as clients are not likely to pass on any identifying information and will only buy where they feel safe.  Sellers have difficulty identifying the good clients. Sellers end up having to protect and keep their clients safe.

Because the good clients who are at risk of being arrested stop seeing escorts, the escorts are left with the bad clients, have to work at a lesser rate and are more at risk.  To earn money they end up having to taking on clients they would not see now.

The abolitionists don't come up with the well paying jobs for sex workers, so what does the sex worker live on.

The decriminilisation is not true, because the brothel keeping laws are still in place, and two women working together are still prosecuted.  The landlords renting accommodation, won't even rent homes to sex workers, so often sex workers end up homeless.

It does not reduce pimps, and actually increases the use of third parties to get clients for sex workers.

You really should write to your MP, say this law causes more harm to sex workers, and that your MP should pledge total decriminilisation of sex work, as in New Zealand.

You could also donate money to the English Collective or Prostitutes to help them campaign.  They held a very important information session to MPs in parliament a few days ago.

You could give money to Laura Lee who has started a Judicial Review of the Northern Ireland Law.  This is to ask a judge to look at the Sex Buyers law in NI and deem it goes against her human right to safely sell sex.  This ultimately should go to the Lords and Strasbourg.  If successful it could have a dramatic effect on the safety of those involved in selling sex.

https://www.gofundme.com/3rikpo

Remember the present law forbids brothels, so all those escorts selling duos, or parties, can and have been prosecuted for brothel keeping.  The law is an arse and needs changing.




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Offline Elrond

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It appears the man was given a caution, and the three women something similar.  The police in NI have for a while they will be issuing discretionary cautions to men caught buying sex, or a rape investigation if the woman was not working of her free will.
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Offline BreastObsessed

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Why is it that some people have a problem with the notion of anyone (men especially) paying for sex?

Also, when feminists get so exercised about women paying for sex, why do they ignore the fact that women also pay for sex (though not to the same degree)?
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Offline toby88

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Why is it that some people have a problem with the notion of anyone (men especially) paying for sex?

Welcome to the world... of the so called...  "do gooders"   :)


Offline BreastObsessed

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Why is it that some people have a problem with the notion of anyone (men especially) paying for sex?

Welcome to the world... of the so called...  "do gooders"   :)

I think there's more to it than that. It's a distorted notion of what human relations are like coupled with a warped view of reality.

I can only assume that people are embarrassed by it.

Sex is looked down upon by many different types of people, not just the religious, as a very base desire. They like to think themselves better than just animals. So the idea of paying someone for the service of this low deed is disgusting to them, possibly it is like the idea of paying to fight someone, paying to roll around in dirt and mud or paying someone insult them.

However, usually these same groups of people are the ones who are either not getting any anyway, or like a lot of homophobes, are secretly doing their hated act behind closed doors.

The image of prostitution is unfortunately marred by the likes of pimps, abuse and drug addiction so that people hate the idea of it by association.

However, considered rationally prostitution is a great thing. Many people are not able to have the access to frequent sexual activity through normal societal methods, be it through social awkwardness, physical deformation, or just plain unattractiveness, so why can't paying money to willing individuals be accepted? Need I go into the dozens of proven health benefits of regular sexual activity? Ugly people and social outcasts need it too!

So we have people who hate upon a method which they either secretly employ or hate by association, or because they secretly want to and aren't brace enough. Such action keeps prostitution down in the murky depths of society and makes it more dangerous.

If prostitution was widely accepted and legalised, it could be cleaned up. The prostitutes could be regulated and health checked. The clients would be happier and healthier too. Plus all the crime associated with it would disappear 
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Offline Alexrude

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Welcome to the world.