Erin*, a Belfast-based sex worker, didn’t know what to expect when legislation in Northern Ireland changed with little fanfare four years ago to make it a criminal offence to pay for sex. “I didn’t start to worry about the impact until I was affected by it. It’s like all politics, I guess, you don’t care until you’re affected personally and then – you really care.”
Now, she says she’s one of many sex workers in Northern Ireland whose lives are put at risk on a daily basis under the region’s recent anti-prostitution laws: “It’s not just the violence [from clients]. It’s the difference in being able to report attacks. The laws clearly don’t protect us. It’s made everything worse.”
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