“Why is it immoral to be paid for a perfectly legal act if done for free?”, “All prostitution exploits women, regardless of women's consent.”, "We will not apologize for prostitution but we will fight for the dignity of the profession." These are part of the plurality of opinions on how legislation should address prostitution/sex work. The following essay is not simply an opinion but will critically analyze Ireland's Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2017 in relation to its law on prostitution. It will do so by discussing the history of the law, violence in the prostitution sector and legislation regarding brothels. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Before we look at the reasons why current sex work legislation should change, we need to look at the history that has shaped the Criminal Law (Sexual Offenses) Act we have today. Our first brothel legislation dates back to the Criminal Law (Sexual Offenses) Act 1933. In this legislation, prostitution was not explicitly prohibited as we see it today. Differently, however, to deserve a punishment you had to be seen as “loitering”. The legislation was reformed in 1935 for a number of reasons. STDs were widespread in Europe, so laws aimed to protect men. The laws of the new law were prohibitionist: prostitution was now explicitly illegal. Like the laws of modern Ireland, the Act aimed to outlaw brothels. Gardaí were permitted to search the premises with this purpose in mind. Prostitution was much more despised than in the relatively liberal Ireland of today. The Magdalene laundries were workhouses that sought to reform and "improve" prostitutes and seemingly promiscuous women. There were at least 11. The 1997 Act was introduced with the aim of making the Gardaí more aware of their actual powers in enforcing this legislation. The 1997 law was adopted partly because of the arrival of heroin and other drugs in Ireland and the fact that women have very few options to finance their addiction. Ireland became much more liberal at the time of this law: prostitution was now supported by Irish feminists. With this law Ireland has moved towards the decriminalization of prostitutes. The Minister of Justice at the time also made an argument against criminalizing brothel advertising which closely mirrors the arguments made for not criminalizing the sex industry. clandestinity with consequences for both the surveillance and health of prostitutes” The Irish Criminal (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 criminalizes the purchase of sex. This mirrors the Nordic model regarding prostitution. This model attributes the illegality to the buyer rather than the prostitute. Sex buyers can risk fines or even imprisonment. The goal is to realize that women are often vulnerable and should not be punished for trying to fight their way out of difficult circumstances. This appears to be a fairer approach than the UK which violates penalties for both the buyer and the seller, however Irish law has some problems. While it may seem harsh, to quote the Swedish government, “…all trade relies on there being customers and demand. If there were no customers who consider women's bodies as objects, there would be no market." It is often cited as women's empowerment, a feminist position that prostitution shouldbe legalized. There is little power in selling people's bodies. Prostitution is more often than not a last resort, in a survey of sex workers working in Vancouver, the vast majority (88%) said they wanted to leave the prostitution industry. This is not a valid reason. illegalize prostitution but rather the opposite. More legalization leads to more regulation and care for those in these vulnerable situations. Ireland has recognized a fundamental law of the economy with the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017: the law of demand. When prices increase, demand decreases. Large fines or prison sentences are quite high prices to pay for purchasing sex, and the law will certainly discourage some buyers. The Sex Worker's Alliance Ireland has argued that it is unfair to reduce the income of already struggling sex workers. Instead, I suggest that the Executive should legalize and ensure regulation of the practice by adopting measures such as upskilling workshops to assist sex workers in their professional mobility. This is an alternative to help them survive in this admittedly difficult economy. If we commit to reducing workers in this industry by manipulating the market and providing tangible assistance, what has been called the world's oldest profession will cease to exist. There is, however, a counter-argument that the law on prostitution in Ireland should not be altered. The main reason for this is violence against prostitutes. Prostitutes currently face violence from both bosses and clients. Many of these take place in brothels or establishments where sex is the main activity. According to the Sex Worker's Project's 2005 "Behind Closed Doors" report, covering the domestic sex work scene in New York, 42 ​​percent of sex workers reported being beaten or threatened by clients. Ireland has strict laws in place within the law with the intention of preventing brothels in Ireland and consequently the violence associated with them. Similarly, brothels are banned in the UK. A key difference between the jurisdictions is that Ireland explicitly states that two prostitutes working together on the same property will be regarded as operating a brothel whereas the UK's Sexual Offenses Act 2003 does not define the term brothel. The sanctions applied against the management of brothels undoubtedly discourage a certain number of exploiters from practicing it. Unfortunately, there is a drawback related to the wording of the legislation that certainly deserves criticism. Our law requiring two or more prostitutes working in the same premises to operate brothels significantly disadvantages prostitutes who are widely known to work in pairs and share apartments to increase their safety and reduce the likelihood of being subjected to violence. The law, therefore, is counterintuitive in its narrow view of what constitutes brothel management. A reform of this legislation would ensure that prostitutes not only have the support of their peers/colleagues but also the protection of the police. A view that concludes that the law should not be changed to allow for this camaraderie is a view that is content to be part of the suffering of women in the sex trade. The argument that sex work should not be decriminalized often refers to the fact that women are no more likely to report violence in the sex trade simply because sex work is legal. This is confirmed by the evidence contained in the research contained in the 2008 Report.