WOMEN gardai are "particularly abusive" towards prostitutes, according to a report published by the Eastern Health Board.
Most gardai, men and women, are "abusive, ignorant and lacking understanding" in their dealings with prostitutes says the report, Women working in prostitution towards a healthier fixture.
It suggests that women gardai are especially abusive in order to prove themselves to their male colleagues.
The report was commissioned by the health board as part of a European project to prevent the transmission of the AIDS virus. It forms part of a wider programme called EUROPAP (European Intervention Projects - AIDS Prevent ion for Prostitutes).
The report, launched by Ms Mary Banotti MEP, recommends that gardai be trained in how they should deal with prostitutes.
It acknowledges, however, that one woman garda visits the EHB's Women's Health Project every month to encourage the women to report assaults.
The survey was organised by the Women's Health Project which trained five prostitutes to interview other prostitutes.
Ms Mary O'Neill, a counsellor with the project, said 1993 legislation which made soliciting and loitering an offence had created a bad atmosphere with gardai. The legislation allows gardai to instruct prostitutes - or clients - to move on from any street in which they find them.
Some women in the survey claim they are "treated like dirt if they report assaults to the Garda. One woman said that reporting an assault had led to a garda - calling to her home and asking her if she was "on the game" in front of family members.
Women also fear they will be charged if they report assaults. This could lead to their names becoming known.
Though it is common for their partners to know what they do, the fear of the wider family and community finding out is widespread among the women concerned, according to the report.
Against that, they see prostitution as providing a better standard of living for themselves and their families.