Who are Ireland’s brothel keepers?
Introduction
Never before has such a dark picture of the sex industry in Ireland existed. Fuelled by the anti-sex work coalition, Turn Off the Red Light, who are calling on the government to further criminalise the sex industry, the Irish media bombards the public with stories of evil criminals trafficking women and children into Ireland and forcing them to prostitute themselves in appalling conditions in brothels up and down the country.
We set out to try to discover, who are Ireland’s brothel keepers?
The Law
Prostitution itself is not illegal in Ireland, but several activities associated with it, including brothel keeping, are criminal offences.
It is generally believed that it is legal to work as a prostitute on your own in a private premises, but if two or more persons work from the same premises, it is then deemed a brothel and illegal. However in recent years there have been some cases where it would appear sex workers working alone have been convicted of brothel keeping.
Brothel Keeping is an offence in Ireland under section 11 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, 1993.
Brothel keeping.
11.—A person who—
(a) keeps or manages or acts or assists in the management of a brothel,
(b) being the tenant, lessee, occupier or person in charge of a premises, knowingly permits such premises or any part thereof to be used as a brothel or for the purposes of habitual prostitution, or
(c) being the lessor or landlord of any premises or the agent of such lessor or landlord, lets such premises or any part thereof with the knowledge that such premises or some part thereof are or is to be used as a brothel, or is wilfully a party to the continued use of such premises or any part thereof as a brothel,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—
(i) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both, or
(ii) on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding £10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.
Crime Statistics
The Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO) has published crime statistics for 2003 – 2009, based on data recorded by the gardaí (police), showing the number of brothel keeping offences recorded and the number of brothel keeping convictions (Includes Conviction, Proved and order made without conviction, Probation of Offenders Act.) for each year.
Data for 2010 and 2011 has not yet been published by the CSO, but in July 2010 the then Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, released a table of provisional figures showing the number of brothels, by county, found operating by the gardaí 2006 – 2010 (to 30 June).
| County | 2010 (to 30 June) | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limerick | 7 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Dublin | 4 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 12 |
| Offaly | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wexford | 2 | ||||
| Monaghan | 2 | ||||
| Roscommon | 2 | ||||
| Longford | 2 | ||||
| Laois | 1 | ||||
| Cork | 1 | 1 | |||
| Mayo | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Kildare | 1 | 1 | |||
| Kilkenny | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Louth | 1 | 5 | 3 | ||
| Sligo | 1 | 1 | |||
| Tipperary | 3 | 1 | |||
| Waterford | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Carlow | 1 | ||||
| Kerry | 1 | 1 | |||
| Galway | 1 | ||||
| Total | 28 | 26 | 26 | 13 | 22 |
These figures show that in June 2010 the number of brothels found by gardaí was already a 100% increase on the previous 12 months.
The CSO also makes available, for the years 2006 – 2009, further data showing the gender and age of those convicted of brothel keeping.
This data shows that 84% of people convicted of brothel keeping offences in Ireland from 2006 – 2009 were women.
