Men on both sides of the border are being asked to support a new campaign called "Prostitution - We Don't Buy It".

The initiative, supported by Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and her Northern counterpart David Ford, coincides with a new Red C Poll, which shows the vast majority of Irish men do not use prostitutes.

The survey finds that 88 per cent of men have never bought sex - just 8 per cent of men say they have - and 4 per cent did not respond.

The vast majority of people surveyed also believe that women who sell sex have been pimped or trafficked into the sex industry.

Ruhama is an organisation that supports victims of sex trafficking.

Its CEO - Sarah Benson - says the idea that prostitution is a time-honoured profession is a myth:

Rachel Moran is a Sex trade survivor and author of Paid for; My Journey through Prostitution and she spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning about the launch of the campaign:

Tom Meaghar’s wife Jill was tragically raped and murdered in Australia in 2012. He now works with the Men's Development Network and is part of today’s campaign. 

He stated: "There's a lot of myths about why men buy sex and a lot of them are tied up with the idea that men are lonely.

"The vast majority of men who buy sex have partners or wives."

On the fact that his wife's killer, Adrian Bayley, was found guilty of the rape of three other women, he said: "I avoided all media and the reason was, I had to protect myself.

"I wasn't able to deal with that again." 

He spoke to Newstalk Lunchtime today about the issue: