Prime Time: Profiting from Prostitution, Escort-Ireland and the online trade

[Barabus]

"First of all no woman becomes a prostitute unless she is a product of a broken home, conditioned by sexual abuse, a junkie or a drunk who is in debt, subject to a violent and abusive spouse or boyfriend or has been kidnapped and trafficked. Companies that sprang up after the legalisation of prostitution would not advertise for recruits in university campuses during job fairs. If you were employing prostitutes you would have to use violence to force them to sleep with a half dozen men a day - there's no other way a woman would sleep with a half dozen men a day no matter how much she was paid. To run a brothel requires a pimp and the use of violence."

You have part of the picture but not the whole schema.

It is true that there is a correlation between those who have been abused or been in care and prostitution. But not all prostitutes have been in care or previously abused.

It is true that junkies will prostitute themselves but not all prostitutes are junkies.

Some prostitutes support a pimp but not all prostitutes do so.

Some pimps are violent but all rely on emotional manipulation.

We have no reliable figures on what percentage of prostitutes are coerced and subject to violent control. We really do not know and that includes you.

In fact many Brothels are run by women and some on a collective basis.

"there's no other way a woman would sleep with a half dozen men a day no matter how much she was paid." Why do you think you can be so definite about that?

I think prostitution is never without some emotional/mental cost to the prostitute and I would not wish any of the women in my family to do that for a living. However if you think no woman ever becomes a prostitute willingly you are quite mistaken. As that's the case a civilised state would offer the protection of the law to those who choose to do so.

By this time it may be clear that I have done some work on this issue and although it was a few years ago I doubt much has changed.

[newport2]

Unlike you, I do not believe it claims "that 50% of prostitutes are aged 5 or less".

Well then explain how on the one hand it states that 50% of those entering prostitution are over 18 and then says the average age of those entering is 12.

I agree with you that something needs to be done about it. But I also beleive that spouting out shock figures that don't add up only harm the cause that they are claiming to be fighting for. And for the record I do not beleive that it's a great life or anything like "secret diary of a call girl". I'm not ignoring any facts, only questioning some of the things that are being presented as fact but when examined do not hold up.

Like I say, I agree with what you are arguing for, so let's agree to disagree on the validity of some of the details available on the web on the subject.

[irish_bob]

Yes they would but like pubs licensed to trade eventually killed off the shebeens they could face a tough time if we did it properly. Operating without a license would have to be a very serious offence with severe penalties. Of course it will never happen because the political courage will never exist.

In talking about the Church many people maintain that celibacy is a bad thing but for many people it not a choice. They don't have the charm, looks or money to attract women in the traditional way or they have wives who are no longer interested. If, as Ruhama advocate, those men are faced with public humiliation when they risk going to a prostitute what kind of life will they face? Obviously they have no political voice and will never be heard from in the debate.

They can of course resort to the porn industry but that is just moving the exploitation of women somewhere else. As long as society is expressing its disdain and we are officially moral we can pretend all is well when it's not.

if public humiliation of a small number of punters deters others from visiting prostitutes , that is indeed a good thing IMO , prostitution corrupts all parties involved , it is an evil

[Astral Peaks]

if public humiliation of a small number of punters deters others from visiting prostitutes , that is indeed a good thing IMO , prostitution corrupts all parties involved , it is an evil

21 men were publically humiliated in Limerick last year, has it detered anybody from seeking out sex services?

The answer is, we don't know. Like every other statistic offered by those opposed to regulation of this industry, it is unknowable and un verifiable.

Roundup of men seeking sex from prostitutes

21 solicited sex from undercover detectives | Irish Examiner

[ger12]

I could see where the quotes were taken from, and on that web-page the sources of the quotes were given. The problem is that although you should have checked the sources you didn't, I did, and they didn't stack up.

You've followed that up by posting a link to an academic article that can't be read because it is behind a paywall, and a link to a 16-page Ruhama statistical report that contains no statistics about prostitution in Ireland, just an account of the work that Ruhama does.

Frankly, you need to up your game!

Fair enough. Unfortunately data on the business of and effects of prostitution are not easy to collect due to the secretive nature of prostitution. I have had a little contact in Ireland and abroad with women who have engaged in prostitution. This contact has lead me to believe that overall this trade is exploitative and dangerous.

Do you have research/studies that may change my belief?

[ger12]

All well and good ger, but what hillman, newport and I are saying is that in order for this statement to be taken seriously, it needs to be backed up with hard scientific date, not emotive phraseology.

You have not done that.

Maybe you could provide the literature that disproves my statement?

[LamportsEdge]

An attempt at wasting someone's time. Your statement is your own and unless you can provide factual data to back up your statement it is up to everyone else to ignore it if they wish.

[simeongrimes]

if public humiliation of a small number of punters deters others from visiting prostitutes , that is indeed a good thing IMO , prostitution corrupts all parties involved , it is an evil

You could as easily declare the alcohol trade or gambling corrupts all those involved. It's an opinion that may be true by some lights but doesn't get us any further along the road to a workable solution.

The status quo is that you can have your choice of prostitutes in any town in Ireland and an endless supply of new ones. So if it is corrupting then the current situation must be a non option.

[Eileen Lang]

The perception that prostitution in Ireland today is not unlike "pretty woman" or "secret diary of a call girl" ignore's the fact that the majority of women and men involved in prostitution do so as a result of poverty and/or drug abuse and/or homelessness...

...so, OF COURSE the best POSSIBLE solution, from their point of view, is to criminalise clients, shrink the market, and take away the income they desperately need...

Now why didn't I think of that?

[bluefirelog]

Good article in today's Examiner making the case against the legalisation of prostitution

The harsh realities of