Ireland to Propose EU-Wide

[Texsox]

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Ireland, current president of the European Union, said on Monday it would propose a ban on paying for sex throughout the EU but held out little hope of agreement among the 15-nation bloc.

 

"(It) has not been discussed in any meaningful way at European level yet, but certainly it is something which will have to be considered during the Irish presidency," Willie O'Dea, minister of state at the Irish Department of Justice, told reporters.

 

"I will see to it that it is put on the agenda for consideration," he said.

 

O'Dea was responding to questions from reporters about a report on the multi-billion dollar sex industry drawn up by Swedish European Parliament member Marianne Eriksson, which suggested a ban on paying for sex. Sweden is the only EU state where it is illegal to pay for sex.

 

"I would envisage that it is one of those controversial proposals where it will be difficult to find common ground, but I certainly think it should be put up for discussion," O'Dea said.

 

Eriksson's report, prepared for debate in the European assembly, urged a crackdown on the sex industry in the EU by removing from stock exchanges firms peddling pornography and by restricting obscene e-mails.

 

The report said the Internet had become an outlet for violent images of rape, child molestation, bestiality and necrophilia.

 

Of the $450 million European Internet users spent on the Web in 2001, 70 percent went to various porn sites, the report said.

 

"We are faced with a very wealthy and powerful industry, one of the richest in the world, which is quoted on several stock exchanges," Eriksson said.

 

ACCOUNTABLE

 

She recommended that the EU should ban companies such as German sex shop chain Beate Uhse Ag and Sweden's Private Media Group Inc, from being listed.

 

Reacting to the report, a spokeswoman for Private Media Group said being listed meant it was more accountable and regulators had greater control of the company.

 

"Banning or trying to build barriers won't necessarily enable a greater control over the industry. There is an enhanced risk of pushing it underground," said spokeswoman Alex Moore.

 

Eriksson wanted more action to stop unsolicited e-mails and television advertising selling sex, and backed studies into men's behavior to establish sex education programs.

 

Eriksson's report coincided with a hearing in Brussels on the sex industry involving European lawmakers, experts and women's rights groups.

 

Professor Janice Raymond from the University of Massachusetts, told the hearing how the industry had gained mainstream acceptance.

 

"Pornography is called 'erotica', prostitution is renamed as 'sex work'...and lap dancing or sex clubs are called 'gentlemen's entertainment,"' said Raymond, co-executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women.

 

Raymond criticized EU states for failing to impose bans on buying sex from prostitutes.

 

She gave as an example the Netherlands where she said legalizing prostitution had led to a 25 percent increase of the local sex industry.

[baggio202]

they'd bankrupt the dutch economy if they did that