There are still buyers of sex and there are still sellers of sex. And that will never change no matter how many times governments try to outlaw sex work.
Laura Lee should know. She's been a sex worker for over half her life but in 2015 the law in Northern Ireland made it illegal to pay for sex.
It's largely succeeded and in doing so has driven sex workers underground and made it more difficult for them to seek help and safety.
So Lee has decided to take on the law and she's got police and health workers behind her. Even the Department of Justice doesn't support the laws, driven by Democratic Unionist peer, Lord Morrow.
Last year, Lee, 43 (but 37 on the internet), won the right to have a judicial review of the law that makes it illegal to pay for sex in Northern Ireland. And if she can't get it overturned she is considering moving to Australia to work with the Scarlet Alliance, the leading Australian sex worker collective.
But her first job (which is costing quite a lot of money) as she sees it is to fix the Irish law and the High Court decision on the case that begins in April. The law was introduced as a way to protect women. Instead it's forced sex work underground.
"I've been campaigning against this law for three years, pointing out all along that it would not achieve what it set out to achieve." Lee said.
"In fact, it has placed us workers in greater danger because prospective purchasers and buyers are refusing to use online screening processes or identify themselves in any way."
In the past, clients wanting to engage sex workers would apply online and sex workers would leave a network of reviews. But those screening processes are now gone because those conversations leave a trail, making it possible to prosecute. Instead, says Lee, clients call from blocked numbers and there is no way of tracking who those clients really are, or how safe they are.
"We have lost a number of our really good clients because they are afraid of being caught and we are left with the dross," Lee says.
But another outcome of the new laws is that it is also illegal for sex workers to work together in safety and that makes the job of sex work critically dangerous, Lee says.
"Would-be attackers know that and they target us on this basis. These are not sex buyers. They are attackers who know we are possibly carrying large amounts of cash," she says.
Those caught breaking the law face up to a year in prison and a fine of £1000. Lee says that any money confiscated as a result of an arrest is meant to fund rehabilitation, but she hasn't observed any great change in support or services. Instead, there are many frightened women who are losing safe livelihoods. As Lee points out, there are still buyers and still sellers. It's how safe those transactions between buyers and sellers can be that really matters.
"There's a long history in Ireland of the state controlling women and they can't pick on single mums any more so they pick on sex workers."
The good news for sex workers is that Lee is also a law graduate and an experienced advocate. She stood up to Lena Dunham and Meryl Streep who both attacked Amnesty International for supporting decriminalisation.
Lee, along with sex worker collectives and human rights activists across the world, campaigned hard for decriminalisation and won.
She said the stars had zero right to speak on behalf of sex workers and even less expertise. Lee said she didn't need rescuing and certainly didn't need the help of Hollywood. And it would be terrific if these two would understand the difference between trafficked women and autonomous sex workers. Fortunately for Lee's campaign, Amnesty International understood that difference.
Lee hopes she and her legal team can convince the High Court. Women and men across Northern Ireland support her, as does her 16-year-old daughter.
But she's keen to get back to doing some regular paid work, finish her psychology studies and maybe start a PhD. If she eventually moves to Australia, she will be an asset for the Scarlet Alliance because sex workers everywhere need advocates.
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