Irish review of the Operation of Part 4 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 (2020)
The Irish government criminalised the purchase of sexual services under The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017. In 2020 it reviewed the law, specifically its ability to protect sex workers from harm and to identify victims of human trafficking. The ECP provided evidence that it did not achieve either of the above aims and recommended that poverty prevention must be prioritised. As Kate McGrew of the Sex Worker’s Alliance Ireland commented, ‘the laws have created a buyer’s market, where the purchasers of sex hold the power… we want sex work decriminalised so that the power gets put back in the hands of the worker’.