Sex worker fund raises more than €25k
ALMOST €26,000 has been raised for sex workers in Ireland who have seen their trade plummet due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
As they are not eligible for the pandemic unemployment payment, many escorts are reported to lack enough funds to pay for basic needs
To help them get through the pandemic, Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) has set up a hardship fund for the 1,000-plus women and men in the profession.
So far, €25,932 has been raised by over 300 individuals who are sympathetic to their plight. The organisation, run primarily by sex workers, states that the profession is one of the hardest-hit in the country.
However, as they are not entitled to the Government’s emergency payment plan, some escorts are reported to have continued working.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, Kate McGrew, a current sex worker and director of SWAI, said that approximately €14,000 has been donated to escorts so far.
‘Since the Government won’t recognise sex workers as a genuine profession, we had to come up with a way to support people in our industry during this pandemic,’ said Ms McGrew.
‘Thankfully, I’ve been doing virtual work online which is a great alternative, but many are unable to do this for a variety of different reasons.’
She added: ‘It is a very difficult time for sex workers and we firmly believe that they should be taken care of, like everyone else out of work at the moment.’
However, Ruhama, a charity that offers nationwide support to women affected by prostitution, believes that the Government should be focused on getting women out of this industry.
‘We know from our frontline work that the vast majority of women would like to exit prostitution, but find themselves trapped should there be no viable alternatives for them,’ said Ruhama’s chief executive, Barbara Condon.
‘That’s why we have called for the
Government to increase resources that allow women to exit. This must include priority access to housing, regularisation of immigration status for undocumented women, and access to financial support so they can transition out of the sex trade.’
She added: ‘The need for this is more urgent than ever.
‘We are concerned, also, at the numbers of women who remain advertised for sex online at this time, who have absolutely no control over whether or not they see so-called “sex-buyers”. Pimps, traffickers and sex-buyers have never cared about the health and safety of women in prostitution – not even a global pandemic has changed that.’
The charity is calling on anyone in the sex industry looking for help to visit www.ruhama.ie online.
‘Pimps never cared about safety’