Male Sex Work in the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland

This chapter is concerned with the geography and regulation of male sex work in Northern Ireland (NI) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI; see Map 1). More specifically, our focus is on male sex workers (MSWs) who either live and work or "tour" (i.e., travel from other parts of the UK, European Union, and else- where) in various cities, towns, and counties throughout Ireland and advertise their services on the Internet. As we outline later, the majority of male, female, transsexual, and transvestite sex workers who advertise on commercial escort websites present themselves as coming from Europe and South America. There is a paucity of academic analyses of sex work in Ireland in general, and even less is known about male sex workers, especially those who offer sexual services online rather than on the streets or in gay bars or clubs.