It has not been an offence to sell sex in Ireland since 2017, when new legislation criminalising the purchaser of sex, rather than the seller, came into effect."I hope this initiative will bring some relief to those who are looking to leave that aspect of their lives behind," Ms McEntee said.
"Given what we know about the levels of exploitation and human trafficking in the sex trade, it is very likely that many of those convicted in the past fall into the exploited category for a number of reasons, including because they were victims of trafficking. "These vulnerable victims should also benefit from the legislative change regarding the sale of sex and be able to move forward and rebuild their lives," the minister said.The Sex Workers Alliance Ireland has welcomed the new initiative but said it does not go far enough."This is defined as criminalisation of merely co-working, and this is where the majority of sex worker convictions have occurred since 2017.
SWAI advocates for full decriminalisation of the sex industry, including a reversal of client criminalisation.