Prostitution in Northern Ireland is governed by the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015, which makes it illegal to pay for sex in Northern Ireland. Prior to the act coming into effect, prostitution in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

was regulated by the same or similar laws to those in England and Wales, as it is elsewhere in the United Kingdom. At that time, prostitution in Northern Ireland was legal subject to a number of restraints which controlled certain activities associated with prostitution, such as soliciting, procuring, living on the proceeds of prostitution (

pimping Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term "pimp" ...

), exploitation of prostitutes, under-age prostitution, and keeping a

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

. However,

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...

provided the opportunity for separate legislation in Northern Ireland.

Nature and extent

As elsewhere, accurate figures for the extent of prostitution in Northern Ireland are difficult to ascertain, given the covert nature of the activities, although the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

estimated 40–100 people were working in the sex trade in 2010. As in other countries,

street prostitution Street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a prostitute solicitation, solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as ...

has declined in favour of off-street prostitution. As with much of Europe, there appears to be a fair amount of mobility of prostitutes in and out of the territory, particularly in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. While exact numbers are very hard to obtain, the 2014 research suggested between 300 and 350 people working on any particular day, the majority of whom were women, with the commonest age range being 25–30. The researchers found that under-age prostitutes were uncommon, and that most prostitutes did not start till they were of legal age.

Research

Despite the publicity given to the issue, there has been a paucity of research on prostitution in Northern Ireland. The Department of Justice carried out its own research published in 2011, and in 2013, it commissioned a research study, which was carried out by the Queen's University Belfast, and released in October 2014 (''Research into Prostitution in Northern Ireland''). The findings were dismissed by supporters of the ''Human Trafficking Bill'', in particular, Women's Aid and the DUP.

Current laws

The legal framework is governed by Part 5 (Ss. 58–64) of the

Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 The Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 (SI 2008/1769) (NI 2) is an Order in Council made under section 85 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The Order provides a legislative framework for sexual offences in Northern Ireland. The correspo ...

(S.I. 2008/1769 (N.I. 2)), as amended by the

Policing and Crime Act 2009 The Policing and Crime Act 2009 (c. 26) is an Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act makes provision about police reform, prostitution, sex offenders, sex establishments and certain other p ...

(on 1 April 2010). These create offences for loitering or soliciting in a street or public place for prostitution (S. 59), soliciting from a motor vehicle ( kerb crawling) (S. 60), organising, advertising, or recruiting into prostitution for the purposes of gain (S. 62), controlling a prostitute (S. 63), or keeping a brothel (defined as more than one person selling sexual services in a given location) (S. 64).

Soliciting

The

(S. 20) replaced Ss 60–61 of the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 dealing with soliciting by a new offence, S. 60 "Soliciting":

Exploitation

The Policing and Crime Act 2009 (S. 15) created a new offence by amending the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 to include S. 64A "Paying for sexual services of a prostitute subjected to force etc.":

Purchasing sex

Influenced by policies in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...

Peer Maurice Morrow successfully campaigned for the criminalisation of purchasing sex in Northern Ireland. The

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

voted in Morrow's

private members bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

, ''Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Further Provisions and Support for Victims) Bill''. On 1 June 2015 the resulting Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 was introduced. While prostitution was only one element of the Act, the Act also stated that soliciting and loitering were no longer offences and that a programme of support would be offered to those exiting prostitution. Clients would be subject to a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of £1000.

Organisations

Ugly Mugs Ireland is a not-for-profit technology initiative that aims to improve the safety of sex workers in Ireland and the UK and reduce crimes committed against them, by bringing sex workers together to share information about potential dangers.

References

Bibliography

Let's talk about sex work...in Northern Ireland. Helen McBride, Nursing Clio January 9 2014

External links

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Northern Ireland Assembly
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Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Further Provisions and Support for Victims) Bill. 26/11-15
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Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Further Provisions and Support for Victims) Bill: Committee stage and submissions
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Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Further Provisions and Support for Victims) Bill. Research and Information Service Paper. October 4 2013 507-13
{{Europe in topic, Prostitution in

Law of Northern Ireland Criminal law of Northern Ireland Culture of Northern Ireland Society of Northern Ireland