Fin Dwyer looks at the latter years of Ireland’s first post independence government, which having successfully suppressed political opposition and the workers’ movement, went on to “attack women and enforce their moral and ethical values on wider society”. From the clearing of prostitutes from the Monto and the filling of the Magdalene laundries to the institutionalisation of child abuse, he describes how the state’s close association with the Catholic Church played a decisive role in forming attitudes to women and sex that have had a devastating effect on Irish society that can still be felt today.
This is the audio of a talk – Sex Work 101 - given by a member of the Workers Solidarity Movement after a WSM Dublin branch meeting in April 2017.
An investigation is currently under way at University College Dublin following reports that up to 200 male students allegedly shared explicit images of women they had sexual relations with. The incident not only highlights a culture of misogyny in Irish universities, it also calls attention to the absence of material supports for effectively responding to sexual assault on campus. But what kinds of supports should students demand from Irish universities?
Trigger Warning: Discusses rape and ‘revenge porn’ image sharing
Selma James lead off a discussion on sex work at the Dublin Anarchist Bookfair alongside, sex worker Jenny O, and Wendy Lyon who blogs at Feminist Ire
There is then a 30 minute discussion with the audience around anarchism, sex work and feminism.
Sex Work as Work: A Conversation with Selma James at the Dublin Anarchist Bookfair by Workers Solidarity on Mixcloud
In 2012 The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) made a submission to the Irish government’s public consultation on the prostitution laws. Most of it was just a cut-and-paste job of text sent to them by the Turn Off The Red Light campaign, which seeks the introduction of the Swedish model. But there is one part of ICTU’s original contribution which I found remarkable. A few paragraphs down the submission cites – clearly for the purpose of endorsing – the view of the Technical, Electrical & Engineering Union‘s General Secretary that “prostitution could not be considered work”.
THE 'BACK TO BASICS' propaganda campaign has been undermined because the Tories failed to meet their own moral standards. In condemning the Tory party we must be careful not to take on their morality. There's nothing wrong with shagging. No one should expect human sexual behaviour to be expressed in only one way. It's strange that while we accept diversity in tastes in food, music, book, films when it comes to sex we talk of rights, wrongs and norms.
The coming into effect last June of legislation which decriminalised certain male homosexual acts was the subject of much celebration in the gay community. The Minister who introduced the legislation, Maire Geoghan Quinn was awarded the Magnus Hirschfield award for her contribution to the gay community by the National Lesbian and Gay Federation. For many it was felt the battle for equality had been won. This was certainly the outlook in the national and international press. Champagne flowed freely in the capital's gay pubs and clubs.
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