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 , exploitation of prostitutes, under-age prostitution, and keeping a brothel.
However, devolution provided the opportunity for separate legislation in Northern Ireland. 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 estimated 40β people were working in the sex trade in As in other countries, street prostitution has declined in favour of off-street prostitution.
While exact numbers are very hard to obtain, the research suggested between and people working on any particular day, the majority of whom were women, with the commonest age range being 25β The researchers found that under-age prostitutes were uncommon, and that most prostitutes did not start till they were of legal age. 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 , [ 2 ] and in , it commissioned a research study, which was carried out by the Queen's University Belfast, and released in October Research into Prostitution in Northern Ireland. The legal framework is governed by Part 5 Ss. The Policing and Crime Act S.
Influenced by policies in Sweden , the Democratic Unionist Party Peer Maurice Morrow successfully campaigned for the criminalisation of purchasing sex in Northern Ireland. 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. 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.
