Country in grip of ‘huge prostitution trafficking’

IRELAND is firmly in the grip of an organised international trade of women being trafficked into the country for prostitution, a support group for sexually exploited women has warned.

Ruhama said it knew about 216 women who had been brought to Ireland for prostitution over the past seven years. It was also aware that at least 16 women had been trafficked into the country over the past eight months.

Ruhama spokeswoman Gerardine Rowley said the support group was only coming into contact with a fraction of the women being brought into the country, many of whom had endured severe sexual violence before being put into prostitution.