Dealing in human flesh: the sex trade in Ireland | Dylan White

Dylan White looks at Paul Connolly’s investigation of Ireland’s spiralling sex trade.TV3’s investigative journalist Paul Connolly goes undercover in an attempt to infiltrate Ireland’s booming prostitution industry. It is said that over a quarter of a billion euro passes through the hands of punters, prostitutes and pimps every year. Paul Connolly Investigates tries to gain access into a profession neatly tucked away in the lawless shadows of Irish society.Behind the newspaper headlines, political rumblings and urban myths lies a world that we are very much in the dark. Prostitution requires a code of silence from all those involved, with only the inner circle having access to the truth.  Nevertheless, the day to day realities of being a vice girl are starting to unravel quick and fast, calling on the Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter to reform the nation’s famously tangled sex laws.Traditionally, tens of thousands of Irish sex tourists travel to Europe’s famous red light districts to fuel their biological needs. However, the internet has revolutionised Ireland’s sex industry, with online brothels replacing the once deeply sought after sex bars and strip clubs of Amsterdam, Hamburg and Prague. With the click of a button, punters can have access to up to a thousand escorts at any given time.This modern twist gives the wrinkled profession a new lease of life, with the convenience of browsing before purchasing offering an almost inhumane feel.  Websites have reshaped and repackaged prostitution as harmless fun. For those of you who think prostitution is a victimless crime, you couldn’t be further from the truth. “These guys are dealing in human flesh”, by fuelling punters demands at the expense of helplessly trafficked individuals.Paul Connolly looks beyond the air-brushed photos, beaming smiles and come-hither comments to reveal the element of criminal activity that makes the sex-for-sale business so attractive. The focus of his investigation is to uncover the hidden truths and the concrete realities that form the back bone of generation sex in Ireland. Posing as a potential client, Connolly steps into the unknown to see how the transaction plays out between an escort and a punter. It is clear that the plastic smiles and willingness of the vice girls are all part of a well-oiled machine, that when stripped down exposes a world were secrecy is king and sex is for sale.In response to “Operation Quest”, a Garda force charged with smoking out and shutting down brothel keeping in Ireland, pimps have made the tactical switch to remove the bulk of prostitution off the streets. Although street crawlers and curb dwellers can still be found across some notorious Dublin and Cork locations, 95% of exchanges now take place behind closed doors. Nonetheless, pimps still pull the strings in the background, either to collect money or simply oversee the “casual encounter”, before slinking back into the darkness.The six month investigation revealed the major players involved in orchestrating prostitution, and how these gangs have become knee deep in a bloody turf war that offers no escape route. Chinese and Thai vice dens have carved out a niche in massage parlours and health clubs across the country, muscling in on the many brothels run by African and Eastern European crime lords. This mafia type prostitution takes advantage of women who are in desperate need of a fix, willing to numb body and mind with drugs in order to please.Like every punter who rolls the dice and purchases the services of an escort, Connolly found it difficult to identify those who were trafficked.  All the signs were there though-bruised bodies, drug addiction and a mental state of fear, of mere objects being used: “One working girl would never tell another that she loves what she’s doing. That’s what we tell you outsiders”.Sex trafficking is now a national issue, with many vulnerable women, the majority migrants being manipulated and forced into “white slavery”.  How can a young and beautiful girl possibly enjoy some old man, with bad breath and sagging skin, lying on top of her body and penetrating her? This prospect really beggars belief.     Paul Connolly Investigates offers an informative guide to Ireland’s sleazy sex trade. Connolly separates fact from fiction, coming face to face with the vice kings who run it.  The devil lies in the detail, as Connolly brings an industry that is rotten to its core into sharper focus. It is a truly remarkable and eye opening investigation into a trade less ordinary than the rest.