Should Escort agencies be legalised in Ireland and would you use them?

Dr Cox's Ego · 12-05-2005 03:45PM #1

One for the males out there .....................

ferdi · 12-05-2005 03:47PM

yes

and

if i was desperate

grimsbymatt · 12-05-2005 03:47PM

yes and no

in reverse order

edmund_f · 12-05-2005 03:48PM

perhaps the question would be 'should they be private or public'?

simu · 12-05-2005 03:48PM

Dr Cox's Ego wrote:

One for the males out there .....................

It's possible to have male escorts for females too and also, lesbians exist - ever think of that, huh?

AARRRGH · 12-05-2005 03:52PM

Of course they should be legalised. The argument to keep "sex for money" illegal makes no sense whatsoever.

As someone said earlier, if you can give it away for free, why should selling it be illegal?

It baffles me how society is still so backwards when it comes to sex. We're just not as free as we think we are.

Kone · 12-05-2005 03:54PM

Yes

and

No

Elfish · 12-05-2005 04:00PM

Escort agencies? Ha ha ha

I think the word you are looking for is "BROTHELS"

Whats wrong? Too shy to call them what they are? :rolleyes:

AARRRGH · 12-05-2005 04:03PM

Elfish wrote:

Escort agencies? Ha ha ha

I think the word you are looking for is "BROTHELS"

Whats wrong? Too shy to call them what they are? :rolleyes:

WTF? Some people call a vagina a c*nt, some people call it a p*ssy.

Calling an "escort agency" an escort agency is perfectly acceptable.

seamus · 12-05-2005 04:05PM

Moved from AH

stagolee · 12-05-2005 04:07PM

1. only with very very strict regulations to make sure people werent getting exploited
2. no

Talliesin · 12-05-2005 04:17PM

Escort agencies are legal. So, for that matter, are massage parlours.

Call a spade a spade.

Quantum · 12-05-2005 04:19PM

Brothels should be legalised immediately - as should escort agencies. What people do in tprivate is no business of the law.

Zulu · 12-05-2005 04:22PM

Your poll leaves out "no and no" my friend.

MojoMaker · 12-05-2005 04:38PM

???

Escort agencies are currently legal.

AARRRGH · 12-05-2005 04:40PM

The law is something like -

It's illegal to be soliciting on the street and it's illegal to be "managing" prostitution. Everything else is legal as far as I am aware.

daveirl · 12-05-2005 04:43PM

This post has been deleted.

Dr Cox's Ego · 12-05-2005 05:13PM

"brothels" then if it makes people more comfortable. Catholic Ireland eh? :rolleyes:

Catsmokinpot · 12-05-2005 05:23PM

St. Augustine of Hippo held that prostitution was a necessary evil: just as a well-ordered palace needed good sewers, so a well-ordered city needed brothels

i would agree if more men were gettin some. there would be more dosile men goin out on a friday night

wouldnt use one myself tho

simu · 12-05-2005 05:29PM

Catsmokinpot wrote:

St. Augustine of Hippo held that prostitution was a necessary evil: just as a well-ordered palace needed good sewers, so a well-ordered city needed brothels

That was back in the days when most women had to keep their virginity for marriage, though.

daveirl · 12-05-2005 05:29PM

This post has been deleted.

Sleepy · 12-05-2005 07:43PM

My attitude to this is the same as to soft drugs. It's going to happen anyway whether it's legal or not so why not legalise it so that it can be regulated and taxed. At present the industry is worth milllions in Dublin. A quick google turns up an astounding amount of websites though according to any newspaper articles I've read on the matter, most are owned by the same cartel.

I don't accept any moral reasoning that argues that selling one's body for sex is any different than selling one's body for any other form of physical labour.

That said, it'll never happen in this backwards country, or at least it won't in the near future. It's far too sensible.

rsynnott · 13-05-2005 01:55AM

"Escort Agency" is a ridiculous euphamism (a real escort agency lets people hire people to be seen with at parties and such). 'Tis a brothel. Yep, they should be legalised provided they're heavily regulated; it's going to go on anyway, so it may as well be done properly, and adequate protection for the people working in the industry provided. No, I certainly would NOT use one :rolleyes:

And obviously, such facilities could also be used by women. "One for the males out there" indeed.

Quantum · 13-05-2005 08:01PM

rsynnott wrote:

"Escort Agency" is a ridiculous euphamism

In truth is simply a mistaken use of the word. Escort agencies are a different thing to Brothels, completely.
The fact that escort agencies might include girls who are open to offers is a separate issue.

Both should be legalised, whether the latter is now or not.

The only regulation should be in location, advertising, age, health, and normal health and safety issues.

Shabadu · 14-05-2005 04:41PM

I think they should be legalised, but with several regulations as others have already detailed.

One important factor should be a psychiatric analysis of the working girls, as many who have entered the industry have not had the ability to deal with it emotionally in the long run.

I'd have no objections if it was a mentally and emotionally stable woman who could deal with the realities of the lifestyle.

simu · 14-05-2005 11:21PM

Shabadu wrote:

I'd have no objections if it was a mentally and emotionally stable woman who could deal with the realities of the lifestyle.

Yeah, same here. Things would have to be run very differently than they are at the moment - you'd have to have official training and certification for workers in the sex industry plus full workers' rights, unions, medical checks, pension schemes etc. And people would have to start thinking of jobs in this sector as legitimate careers instead of thinking that calling someone a whore is one of the worst insults possible.

I imagine there would still be an underground world of prostitution as well because there will always be people out there who have desires few if any people would be willing to satisfy for any price. Tackling this would require us to tackle the economic inequalities on this planet and that's a whole other can of worms.

Will the stuff I outlined in my first paragraph happen in Ireland? Not anytime soon - I can see them ignoring the present problems with prostitution until they become far more visible and upsetting to the majority of voters and then coming up with some half-hearted, poorly-thought out scheme to cover the whole thing up or else reduce the more exploitative elements to a less politcally unacceptable level. (such faith I have in our dear sweet political system!)

nesf · 15-05-2005 12:59AM

I personally cannot see the big deal about it.

If the woman or man, is perfectly willing to exchange sex for money then I do not see why anyone has a right to say stop that. Most arguments I hear against prostitution are with regard to people being forced into it or having little or no rights or protection.

It's an untapped pool of tax revenue. Although that opens up the issue of does the government have a right to tax every transaction between two people.

Prostitution is the as the saying goes "the oldest profession". The moral thinking behind it's illegality is from the same era as when sex for pleasure was considered sinful.

Sex is no longer something sacred, it is no longer something that is reserved for marriage (by the majority, I do know people who are doing this). Why should the sale of it be illegal?

It really doesn't make sense to me. I can't see a single good reason to criminalise it.

At least if it's legalised and controlled to some extent then the practicioners can be helped and protected by the government in their line of work. At the moment they aren't.

From the past century it is clear, in all developed countries that criminalising it does not stop it from happening. In fact it seems to have little effect on it, if you want to buy sex in any major city in Ireland, you will not have much trouble.

Legalise it and tax it so it serves some useful social purpose. If people still have moral objections to it, then they can refuse to particpate in or use the services provided. No one is going to force them to go.

bonzai bob · 17-05-2005 08:05AM

Yes it should be legal.

Would i use one? - If there was no such thing as an STI then i probably would. Other than that, no.

The_Conductor · 17-05-2005 09:00AM

I'm with Sleepy- Legalise them, regulate them and tax them. If its a business, run it as a legal business- with all the safeguards for staff and obligations that it entails. The experiment in the Netherlands appears to be paying off- escorts have the security of knowing they can rely on the law as and when its required, in turn they pay their taxes like everyone else. Staff are tested for STDs every 3 months and the entire industry is treated as just another business sector- to everyones benefit.

So yes, and no- legalise it, but I don't want to use it myself.

bonzai bob · 17-05-2005 09:29AM

STI are tested for every 3 months yes. But it only takes one person to pass on a STI to an escort, after that, god knows how many people an escort could pass it on to within those 3 months.

Megatron · 17-05-2005 11:05AM

Shabadu wrote:

I

One important factor should be a psychiatric analysis of the working girls, as many who have entered the industry have not had the ability to deal with it emotionally in the long run.

This isn't done for any other job, while certian jobs do require Psychiatric visits to ensure the preson is able to function in the work place ( Space, Sub .. stuff like that) i don't see why people should be questioned to why they want to do the job ? i certianly was never questioned on my chosen profession ( Comp tech / supervisor). Don't see why it should be any different.

With some restrictions in place , well not restrictions but rather regulations the chance of someone being dupped into this line of work would be rather curtailed.

Just my options .. and on the poil.

yes
and
no.

Should Escort agencies be legalised in Ireland and would you use them?

Should Escort agencies be legalised in Ireland and would you use them? 58 votes

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