The High Level Working Group

From The Implementation of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017, Part IV – An Interim Review:

“The High-Level Working Group was formed in 2017 and comprises organisations and agencies1, tasked with the implementation of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 with an emphasis on Part IV of the 2017 Act. This report is informed by the members who are working with the new legislation and its implementation. All members were given an opportunity to inform the author’s report. The aim of the working group is to support the implementation of the legislation through the following:
  • Provide an opportunity to share information between front line responders, service providers and experts about the implementation of the legislation;
  • Provide an opportunity for key agencies to discuss any issues or challenges in relation to the implementation of the Act;
  • Learn from international experience and expertise;
  • Monitor and document any unforeseen consequences of the legislation;
  • Gather and collate data relevant to the implementation of the legislation;
Comment – the working group:
  • Dr Geoffrey Shannon as Chair
  • An Garda Síochána
  • Health Service Executive
  • SERP (Sexual Exploitation Research Programme, UCD)**
  • Department of Justice and Equality (as observers)
  • Ruhama*
  • Men’s Development Network*
  • Survivor activist – Mia De Faoite*
  • Immigrant Council of Ireland*
  • Dublin Rape Crisis Centre*
  • Doras Lumní*
  • Children’s Rights Alliance***
*Founding Members of “Turn Off the Red Light”
**Founded or Run by members and/or employees of “Turn Off the Red Light” member organisations.
***Denise Charlton, CEO of Community Foundation, Founder of “Turn Off the Red Light” and SERP was a Director between May 2014 and May 2017
Query:
How are currently active sex workers represented in this group?

Background

From Report:
“Many organisations became increasingly concerned about the growing commercial sex trade in Ireland and the exploitation of women and girls and its links to organised crime. The organisations, representing many sectors of Irish Society advocated for the Irish Government to review the legislative context for prostitution and sex trafficking, its protections, opportunities for redress and the surrounding services for those exploited in the sex trade. On 22 June 2012, the Department of Justice and Equality announced a consultation process on the future direction of prostitution legislation in Ireland, to be overseen by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality and Defence.

 

The Committee received over 800 submissions and held public and private hearings with 24 organisations and individuals, over 80% of which favoured the Swedish approach to prostitution legislation. The report notes that apart from “their numerical majority” the Committee also attached “great importance to how these contributors comprise a broad cross-section of Irish civil society”, including Trade Unions, service providers and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation2. The Committee notes “the breadth and depth of evidence on the nature and effects of prostitution” which was presented and concludes that the harms and criminality of prostitution “outweigh any considerations in favour of voluntary prostitution where it does occur”3. The Committee travelled to Sweden where it found the evidence “compelling” in relation to the reduction in the size of the prostitution industry; the effectiveness of using the criminal law to tackle demand for prostitution and in reducing trafficking; and the provision of extensive services to women in prostitution. The All-Party Committee was unanimous in its conclusions that the evidence was conclusive that the Swedish approach is the most effective one and recommended the criminalising of the buyer and de-criminalisation of those in prostitution in Ireland.”

Footnotes:
1 The Committee comprises An Garda Síochána; Health Service Executive, SERP (Sexual Exploitation Research Programme, UCD), the Department of Justice and Equality (as observers), Ruhama, Men’s Development Network, Survivor activist – Mia De Faoite, the Immigrant Council of Ireland, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Doras Lumní, the Children’s Rights Alliance and Dr Geoffrey Shannon as Chair.

Query:
I was informed by an employee at the department of Justice that a huge amount of submissions to the consultation in 2012 arrived in the last few days by post (against specification that submissions should be in digital format) and that most of these late submissions consisted in copies of a similar form letter (Partial confirmation of this from David Stanton TD) Were these included in the figure of 800 submissions, and, if so, what proportion of the “over 80% of which favoured the Swedish approach to prostitution legislation” did they represent?