Online sex trade activity has increased by over 50% in some counties.
A crackdown on prostitution in Northern Ireland has led to a huge increase in online sex trade activity in Ireland, particularly in the border counties, according to a report in the Irish Examiner.
As of yesterday (June 1), it is illegal to pay for sex in Northern Ireland after the six counties became the first region to back a proposed ban last year and it is already having an effect on online sex trade activity further south.
According to a study conducted by the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI), there has been a rise of over 50% in online sex trade activity in Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim and Louth in recent weeks.
As a result of legislation being introduced in Northern Ireland, campaigners are warning that Ireland could become a ‘safe haven’ for pimps and prostitutes unless a similar law is enforced by the Irish government.
In Louth, for example, there were 25 escorts advertising their services online at the end of the May compared with 18 at the beginning of the month, while it was a similar story in Donegal (from 14 up to 24), Cavan (13 up to 15) and Leitrim (2 up to 9).
“The initial indications are that those who run prostitution have been feeling the heat of Northern Ireland’s new laws even before they came into force and have been switching their operations to the south,” Brian Killoran, chief executive of the ICI, is quoted as saying in the Examiner.
Killoran’s colleague Denise Charlton, an anti-trafficking consultant with the ICI, said an all-island approach is needed to address the issue.
“Now the law is a reality we expect to see this to increase even more,” she said.
“This is in line with international experience where successful laws in Sweden and major cities in the United States have pushed prostitution and organised crime into neighbouring jurisdictions.
“We need an all-island approach to put pimps out of business.”
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