Prostitution soars by 205% in Ireland

New crime figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that the number of offences increased from 37 in 2018 to 113 in 2019.

The spike comes after a new law which targets people using prostitutes was introduced in 2017.

The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act expanded prostitution offences which includes paying for sexual activity with a prostitute and paying for sexual activity with a trafficked person.

The Act also decriminalises those working as a prostitute.

A review into the changes in legislation will be published this year.

Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan said: “I note that gardai have carried out a number of days of action in 2019, under Operation Quest, to target the demand for sexual services and to enforce the law criminalising the purchase of sex and other related crime.

“The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017, which established offences in relation to payment for sex, will be reviewed this year.

“This review will include consideration of the number of arrests and convictions in respect of the new offences, as well as an assessment of the impact of the Act on the welfare of those who engage in sexual activity for payment.

“I look forward to learning from the results of that review.”

Meanwhile, the annual figures for last year show a decrease in homicide offences, a decrease in robbery and a decrease in burglary and related offences.

There was an increase in a range of offence categories including sexual offences, fraud, deception and related offences, drugs offences and weapons and explosives offences.

There was a significant decrease of 37.5% in the number of homicide offences committed to the end of 2019 in comparison to the number committed in 2018.

However, there was an increase in the number of recorded incidents of attempted murder, threats to murder and assaults causing harm in 2019.

Mr Flanagan said: “I welcome the ongoing downward trend of homicide offences recorded in 2019, in comparison with 2018 and 2017 and in particular that the number of murders fell by 15 from 2018 to 2019.

“However, every murder is one too many and the increase in attempts and threats to murder starkly remind us of the ongoing challenge faced by An Garda Siochana in tackling serious criminality.

There was an increase in sexual offences of 3.9%, representing a total 3,307 recorded offences in 2019.

Controlled drug offences rose by 17.3% in 2019 compared to 2018, with an increase both in possession for sale or supply as well as possession of drugs for personal use.

There has been an increase of over 26% in fraud, deception and related offences compared to 2018.

Since 2018, changes have been made to the gardai Pulse system to improve the quality and consistency of recording of insurance related crime.

Mr Flanagan added: “While statistical releases reflect a point in time, they provide us with very valuable insight to us all in relation to trends and challenges in the criminal justice sector.

“I am confident in the ability of An Garda Siochana to continue to address all forms of criminality, including in the current context of the Covid-19 pandemic.”