"My name is Jenny and I'm from Montpelier Hill". Residents Take Direct Action to Stop Kerb Crawlers

dublin | miscellaneous | feature

Saturday September 04, 2004 16:06

by Indymedia Kevin - Indymedia Éire

Download the interview in MP3 format - duration 12:39

An interview with one of the residents on the pickets in Dublin's north-west inner city.

Download the MP3 interview from radio.indymedia.org (click on the link to start the downloading process - the filesize is 7.3Mb)

For the last three months, the residents of the Montpelier Hill district in Dublin's north-west inner city have been organising sit-out pickets at two locations in their neighbourhood. The first is at the entrance to Montpelier Drive, which is a small secluded red-brick estate of around 50 houses. The other picket is at St Bricin's Park, near the end of Montpelier Hill and Arbour Hill prison. This action by the residents was prompted by the increase in men soliciting prostitutes in the area. Local residents say that kerb crawlers were approaching their children and offering money for sex, encouraging them to get in their cars.

The level of prostitution and related activity has increased in the last few years with the opening of the Collins Barracks Museum on Benburb Street. The women working on the streets moved away from the now well-lit area (further developed in recent months with the LUAS) onto Montpelier Hill, which is a quiet residential area, and poorly lit at night.

Jenny, one of the residents on the Montpelier Gardens sit-out, explains why they were there. "We're fighting this about eight years and nothing was happening. So we decided to take action ourselves, because one of our neighbours was attacked and mugged at half three in the afternoon. So then we decided if the Garda are not going to take any action then we're going to have to do it ourselves. People are of the opinion that we're just here since Lynette McKeown went missing. We've been out here before that, a long time before that happened. If it happened once its going to happen again." Article Continues at 'Feature Continued' link Below

Discussion on Legalisation of Prostitution from Melbourne Indymedia

Jenny feels that the area has been neglected by the mainstream political parties in power. "If you were to go to Drumcondra and have it happening there, or Castleknock, or anywhere where there's someone big and mighty, they would not be allowed on the street. On the election day, Bertie Ahern met us when we went up to vote, and said "We'll have to do something about it." We have heard nothing from Fianna Fáil from that day to today."

Jenny says that the residents had to come out onto the street to let their grievances be known instead of sitting at meetings. "Prostitution is illegal, if they [Dublin City Council] legalise it then at least the prostitutes can go somewhere safe and not be bothering people. We've nothing against the prostitutes. We just don’t want kerb crawlers around our door. We're only waiting for the time when some child or teenager gets abducted by a crawler, because the area is so isolated."

"Anything is predictable in a situation like this. We were shocked to hear about Lynette McKeown, she was only a young girl. The teenagers in the area seem to have grown up with the situation, but they could never go out much at night unless they were in a group because they were petrified. That's how bad it got in the past eight years. Now we have to tell our children about it. They all know what prostitution is. We're demonstrating here and they see the posters, so you have to tell them what it is. Plus you're bringing your children to school in the morning and there's condoms lying around everywhere on ground. How can you tell a four or five year-old what they're for? If it was any other area it wouldn’t be allowed."

Most regular readers of this site will be familiar with some aspects of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act from 1994. The Act also increased Garda powers to raid and close brothels. Sections 23 and 24 of the Act gave the State increased power to raid brothels and convict both the workers and operators of the premises. The result of the increased pressure on brothels operating in the city meant that more women went back to working on the streets.

Dublin City Council and the Government need to act responsibly when it comes to prostitution. It is obvious that a zero-tolerance policy with crackdowns on the sex industry does not work. If brothels were legal and monitored, then the situation in Montpelier Hill would be avoidable. If prostitutes were registered and were working in supervised conditions, then the need for the women to work on the street, and hence come into conflict with local residents, would be greatly lessened. Monitored brothels would help to prevent the spread of HIV, and also work towards preventing the abduction and murder of women from quiet streets at night.

One example where this type of system is in operation, which Dublin City Council could examine, is in Singapore. Singapore is a city-state with rules and regulations bordering on fascism; the media is heavily scrutinised and censored, even chewing gum is banned from sale. The Government has made prostitution - specifically brothels - legal. Operating a brothel and soliciting in public are technically illegal, but officially tolerated in designated red-light areas. Working women have to carry a credit-card sized "yellow card" which carries the holder's photograph and thumb print, proves that they are registered and have recently undergone their bi-weekly health check. Pimping, soliciting and streetwalking are not permitted in Singapore - and this is rigorously enforced by the police. Anyone involved in non-regulated prostitution is liable for heavy fines and/or jail terms.

Perhaps this may be a solution to the problems of "world's oldest profession". For the moment, the current inaction by the State leaves both residents and prostitutes at risk.

Further reading: Public Order Act 1994

Residents on the picket