In all the furore of recent days about Grok and X and the dangers of social media, it is worth recalling that social media remains the only place that certain issues in Irish Society are openly discussed. And it is ironic that one of those concerns one of the state’s more shady and apparently profitable websites, Escort Ireland, which has been relentlessly highlighted by an anonymous social media user called NWL.
If you are not familiar with Escort Ireland, then what you need to know is that it is Ireland’s largest advertising site for prostitution services, with 6-900 listings online at any one time. It also has a social media function of a kind, whereby users are encouraged to leave “ratings” on the women. Women are listed with photographs, prices, services offered, and information ranging on things from their personal pelvic grooming to the measurements of their chest, waist, and hips.
A quick browse of the site makes it abundantly clear that the vast majority of the women on it are foreign born, which should you’d imagine immediately raise concerns in any logical person about sex trafficking. But most of all, the services offered on the site (notwithstanding the pro-forma “she charges only for her time and company” disclaimer) are absolutely illegal.
The site makes its money, naturally enough, by charging the “sex workers” who use it for their advertisements, which means it makes money directly from prostitution. A basic 30-day ad on the site costs €450, though sex workers (or, presumably, their pimps) can pay for significant upgrades to their ads that improve placement, and so on.
What’s more, the site’s terms and conditions make for interesting reading. Consider, for example, that there is no requirement for somebody to verify their age. Instead, disclaimer type language is used that is designed to shield the site from legal accountability:
When you upload any Content to this website, you hereby confirm that:
All persons depicted in the content are of legal age and that you have seen and hold a copy of identify and age verification documents
All persons depicted in the content have consented to its production and you hold the necessary legal documents such as model release forms to prove this
All persons depicted in the content have consented to its distribution and you hold the necessary legal documents such as model release forms to prove this
All persons depicted in the content have consented to its ability to be downloaded and you hold the necessary legal documents such as model release forms to prove this
That this content is not illegal and does not violate any other parts of our terms and conditions, terms of service or other agreements or contravenes any applicable or local laws and does not subject The Website to any claims, demands, lawsuits, regulatory actions or any actual, potential or risk of liability or threats thereof.
We may request copies of the documents listed in parts A-D above and failure to provide these documents within a reasonable time period will be a violation of these terms and conditions and will result in the content being removed and possible closure of your account.
Note the language used: Age verification “may” be sought, but is not mandatory. Instead the site adopts the position that by using the site, you are confirming to them that you are over the age of 18. This is essentially the same formula as is used by most pornographic websites, though of course in that case the product is video, not physical access to a female body in return for cash.
Escort Ireland, despite being a website that exclusively advertises services in Ireland, is actually based in the UK (since it is illegal to advertise sex here) and owned by a company operating in Spain. It is owned by convicted pimp Peter McCormick, whose son Mark is also a convicted brothel keeper. Recent revenues for operations are hard to come by, but the holding company behind the site – Lazarus Holdings – turned over €6m in 2015, a figure which has presumably grown in line with both inflation and population.
It is not as if our political class does not have options in terms of dealing with the (I would have thought) relatively obvious risk that Escort Ireland is passively facilitating criminality: They could do what they have done with Russian News Site Russia Today, and simply block its content in Ireland.
Or they could ask the Gardai a simple question: What’s the story?
The Gardai have a dedicated anti-prostitution unit in place, though successful convictions appear to be almost non-existent. This probably should be a source of some confusion to our politicians given that this one website lists thousands of people and venues across Ireland where prostitution is taking place. Perhaps the Gardai are simply unaware of the largest sex-for-sale site in Ireland, run by a family of convicted brothel keepers.
I write about this because of the current hysteria about X and Grok: Our politicians seem very concerned about sexual exploitation when it’s photos being edited by an AI tool on a website. Why doesn’t the largest actual sexual exploitation website in the country get any attention?