Welfare services for prostitutes outside Dublin are `vital'

Setting up welfare services for prostitutes outside Dublin was "vital", the administrative director of a Dublin charity working with prostitutes has said.

Ms Mary Fleet of the Ruhama Project said there was just one other such service in the State, in Waterford, and women outside these centres who felt compelled to turn to prostitution were being left to fend for themselves without "vital" supports.

The Ruhama project provides outreach services, advice, follow-up and training programmes to women in prostitution. Workers befriend and keep in contact with up to 30 women a night, she said.

"There is no coercion. We are not making any judgments. We advise them in health matters, safe sex, tell them about welfare rights, empower them to look after themselves," she said. "But nothing is being done around the country.

"While in Dublin almost all the prostitution happens because women need money for heroin - for themselves and sometimes for boyfriends - around the country it is more often that women need money for their children's first holy communion, for school uniforms or coming up to Christmas."

She said prostitution in Dublin was attracting younger and younger women, and the fact that most were funding a heroin habit meant that most were in bad health and some were particularly desperate.

Ms Fleet said the number of women who completed the training and education programmes and had got "back on their feet" was testament to the value of their work. She said the almost total absence of support services for prostitutes outside Dublin was "dreadful".

The Ruhama Project (from the Hebrew word meaning "a renewed life") was founded in 1989 by the Legion of Mary with the help of Our Ladies of Charity and the Good Shepherd Sisters.