Ireland - ‘Turn Off the Red Light’ campaign launches exhibition
[Brussels, 08 July 2011] The Immigrant Council of Ireland, as part of the national campaign ‘Turn Off the Red Light’, on 7 July launched a photographic exhibition by Dana Popa, entitled ’Not Natasha’, which traces the tragically fractured and damaged lives or young girls and women caught up in human trafficking for prostitution within Europe.
Turn Off The Red Light is a campaign to end prostitution and sex trafficking in Ireland. It is being run by a new alliance of civil society organisations, including Irish unions, medical professionals’ bodies, migrant groups and others.
Trafficking of women and young people for the purposes of sexual exploitation is a modern, global form of slavery. We believe that the best way to combat this is to tackle the demand for prostitution by criminalising the purchase of sex.
The purpose of the alliance is to raise public awareness about the dangers of prostitution and sex trafficking and to lobby the Government to introduce legislation to end the exploitation of women, men and children in the sex industry.
We believe that tackling the demand for paid sex that fuels the prostitution industry into which women, men and children are trafficked is the most effective way to combat this heinous crime.
