The Irish Government funds the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI), an organisation backed by billionaire George Soros.
Official records of the Irish government’s website confirm that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth allocated a €9,387 grant to SWAI under the 2024 LGBTI+ Community Services Funding program.
This funding was awarded to SWAI or their “Sex Worker Awareness Training” a programme aimed at educating services on the discrimination and barriers sex workers face, ensuring stigma-free and non-judgmental support.
According to their mission statement, SWAI is an anti-capitalist, anti-ableist, anti-xenophobic, trans-inclusive and anti-white supremacy and acknowledges, and rejects, the ‘whorearchy’ that exists within sex work.
“Whether a sex worker through choice, circumstances, or coercion, any sex worker’s voice is as valuable and necessary as another’s,” the website reads.
They also fight against Whorephobia.
According to the Global Network of Project Whorephobia describes hate speech and overt discrimination against sex workers. It intersects with racism, xenophobia, classism, and transphobia, which often leads to structural discrimination, violence, and abuse.
SWAI celebrated the grant on social media on January 23.
Notably, SWAI has also benefited from substantial financial support from Soros-backed organisations.
The group received money from the Open Society Foundation (OSF).
“The Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros, are the world’s largest private funder of independent groups working for rights, equity, and justice, ” the website reads.
Reportedly Soros has given the OSF €32 billion since its creation.
According to SWAI financial reports, in 2021, SWAI received €10,745 from the Open Society Foundation and €69,869, in 2022, through the Open Society Policy Centre, now known as the Open Society Action Fund (OSAF), a lobbying organisation part of US billionaire Soros’ network.
This is not the first time Soros’ network has financially supported SWAI.
According to the OSF website in 2017, between 2017 and 2019 they granted $100,000 to SWAI “to provide organization level support”.
Reports from Irish Media The Journal show that in 2015, the US billionaire Soros funded the campaign by the SWAI, which opposed The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill of 2015.
The bill wanted to criminalise the purchase of sexual services, but SWAI argued it would increase violence against women involved in prostitution.
In 2021, the Sex Workers’ Alliance of Ireland (SWAI) also received €135,000 from the Irish State through Rethink Ireland’s 2020-2023 Equality Fund.
According to NGO Rethink Ireland, this €3 million fund “is supported by the Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist Foundation and the Government of Ireland.”
In 2020, the Department of Justice previously refused the group funding, citing the sex worker organisation’s refusal to acknowledge that “prostitution is inherently exploitative of vulnerable people,” reported The Irish Examiner.
Despite this, the Irish government’s continued financial backing of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland raises questions about its alignment with broader international agendas.
The organisation pushes a total decriminalisation of sex work in Ireland based on the New Zealand model.