“[Sex Workers] Need To Be Very Vigilant At The Moment”

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Chief Superintendent Declan Daly

Last night.

An Garda Síochána issued an alert to sex workers after they announced they were investigating seven attacks on sex workers since mid-October.

They also appealed for any sex workers who have been attacked to come forward without fear.

The Irish Times reported:

Investigators are working closely with the injured parties involved and treating the victims with “the utmost sensitivity and confidentiality”.

Detectives attached to Operation Quest – which focuses on securing convictions against individuals involved in organising prostitution – at the Garda National Protective Services Bureau are liaising with local units.

They have issued an appeal to others who may have been subject to a similar attack to immediately report the incident.

Further to this..

Chief Superintendent Declan Daly spoke to Bryan Dobson on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

Bryan Dobson: “So to be absolutely clear here. A sex worker, who is assaulted, comes forward to the gardaí and speaks to you will not face prosecution? That simply doesn’t arise?”

Declan Daly: “Absolutely. That’s not even a consideration. The consideration is the welfare and the harm  and the danger that they’re in at the moment.”

Dobson: “Do you have advice for sex workers, given that your suspicion presumably is that these attacks are ongoing and are organised and systematic.”

Daly: “Yeah I think they need to be very vigilant at the moment. Particularly when, if they’re taking online clients because that’s the medium through which these attacks are starting. So I think they need to be very vigilant in relation to that and obviously if they are concerned about a client, well obviously they just vacate the appointment or cancel the appointment.”

Dobson: “And are there precautions they can take?”

Daly: “Well, it’s very difficult because I suppose the nature of the work is that, is difficult, is that it’s people that they don’t know and I suppose, I mean they can simply, at the moment, and we’re working very diligently and quickly to resolve this issue.

So they could, if they were of a mind to, forgo online appointments and maybe deal with people whom they know from previous encounters.”

Dobson: “Clearly, they’re very vulnerable, they’re very isolated and very exposed to this kind of attack.”

Daly: “Yeah, correct. I mean working in the prostitution industry are a lot of vulnerable people. There’s a high element of exploitation in that industry so we’re very concerned for the safety and welfare of these people.”

Gardaí investigate attacks ‘on sex workers primarily in the Dublin area’ (Mark Hilliard, The Irish Times)

Listen back to Morning Ireland item in full here

Previously: Mass Surveillance On Sex Workers?

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29 thoughts on ““[Sex Workers] Need To Be Very Vigilant At The Moment”

  1. Dr.Fart

    the irony is, all this new criminal activity happening is a result of Fine Gaels Ireland, more and more people are turning to crime because poverty and working poverty is so high, and they FG call themselves the party of law and order. although they haven’t used that in a while, might be some self realisation going on, they know it’s too cheeky even for them, to claim to be about law and order.

          1. Dr.Fart

            don’t need “evidence”, im not submitting a dissertation. i’m making an observation. One you wouldn’t be capable of seeing because you’re blinded by your love for the establishment. so, no, it is not.

          2. Cian

            @Fart

            Your original post doesn’t read as an observation, it reads as statements of fact.

            Vs

            When I read your original post it doesn’t seem to me an observation; it reads more like a statements of fact.

          3. Dr.Fart

            well it is fact. but it could be disputed, because i didnt come in armed with fuppin paper trails and links and citings like rob_g

          4. Rob_G

            Christ, no wonder the health service is fupped when there are doctors who don’t understand that the difference between objective reality and their own opinion…

      1. Dr.Fart

        no. because of how FG have ranthe country the last 8 years, creating the biggest wealth divide we’ve ever had, we have far more people in poverty with no eay out. so, crime goes up. this article is about crime. FG used to call themselves the party of law and order. so it’s ironic that theyre responsible for this. its easy to follow, i just don’t think you wanted to.

        1. A Person

          Can you rename yourself to Dr. Bell End. An article about sexual assault and you try to turn it into party politics? Equating poverty to rape? I can’t eat, so I’ll rape? What kind of animal are you?

          1. Dr.Fart

            you’re an absolute moron who didnt understand the article or what i said. firstly, they arent raping them, theyre robbing them. theyre STEALING. steeeaaaaaaling. ok? its in the article. secondly, now i know you have a lot to remeber already, but, secondly, i said the country is poorer because FG, so more crimes happen.

            so none of what you said is close to the mark, you word twisting fupping oxegen thief.

            ps. don’t bother responding, youre the type of person who sees what they want to see, and no amount of clear explanation will change that. you wont have read this, but youll respond repeating the same wrong take you did already.

        2. A Person

          Dear Dr Bell End, they are not steaaaaaaliing, they are assaultiiiiing., you silly billy. But sure, even if these people were only stealllling, that’s ok? Why is stealing or assaulting ok in your world. Can I come to your house and steal from you, or assault your family?

          Note the article quotes from the Garda National Protective Services Bureau. See I can read better than you.

          1. Dr.Fart

            never did i say or even imply assault and robbery are fine. i merely said theres more of it because the wealth divide is greater, meaning more desperate people.

            but you dont care about what i said or what i meant, you want it to be more controversial, you made up in your head what it could be and theres no turnin round. thats what you want it to be and u wont hear otherwise. you’re a pathetic loser.

          2. A Person

            Dear Dr Bell End, the article was about sexual assault, women being attacked. Yet you try to conflate this with a political party. What is wrong with you? And I’m a loser? If you seriously think that steeeealing or sexual assault is because of a wealth divide, you have massive issues.

          3. Dr.Fart

            you’re unreal .. read the thing again. look for even one instance of it being about sexual assault. when you don’t find it, have a think that maybe if you made that up, you also made up all the other stuff you guessed and got wrong.

  2. Hank

    Or, y’know, just give them some proper protection rather than a law that states an apartment containing more than one sex worker is considered a brothel which creates a predators paradise.

    1. Rob_G

      While I agree 100% that prostitution should be regulated like any other industry, part of that would entail premises operating as brothels having the proper planning permission. I had a friend living in a building where one of the flats was operating as a brothel, and going home late at night was not always the most comfortable experience (clients passing her in the corridor thinking she was working, etc).

      1. kellyma

        I guess if its regulated as a “normal” business then the usual rules would apply regarding what is and isnt an acceptable business premises? There are rules around that or?

      2. Kim Cardassian

        Brothels are rife in Spain often in assuming neighbourhoods. The world hasn’t ended there and no one really cares.
        Surely the law can be changed in Ireland to empower the people in the industry rather than take it away from them?

        1. Rob_G

          I’m not against establishing brothels; however, I am against them being permitted to open in residential buildings, as Hank seems to be suggesting above. I wouldn’t want the associated nocturnal comings and goings in a building I lived in, and I doubt you would, either. I would feel the same about any other nighttime business operating from a building zoned for residential.

          1. Hank

            Errrm, maybe read my comment again. I suggested no such thing.
            I merely said that the current situation is putting sex workers in a very vulnerable situation.

  3. Jackdaw

    Of all the damage Frances Fitzgerald did as Minister of Justice bringing in this Law was the worst.
    She is a disgrace.

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