FG proposes overhaul of sex trafficking laws

FINE GAEL last night tabled proposals for an overhaul of the country’s sex trafficking legislation, saying the existing laws were “piecemeal and insufficient”.

Under the proposals, put forward in the Dáil by the party’s immigration spokesman Denis Naughten, FG has proposed:

* Policing of human trafficking be moved from the Garda National Immigration Bureau to the Garda Organised Crime Unit.

* The policy of placing victims of human trafficking in asylum centres be ended and that independent accommodation, support and protection services be introduced.

* The extension of reflection and recovery times for suspected victims of trafficking.

* The extension of the remit of the Department of Justice’s Anti-Human Trafficking Unit to include migrant women in prostitution and the establishment of a “High Level Group” to examine our prostitution laws with a view to preventing the proliferation of sex trafficking.

“The illegal sex industry here is worth €180 million a year with more than 1,000 men paying for sex every day,” said Mr Naughten. “Human trafficking is the fuel that keeps prostitution on the road as evidenced by the fact that 97% of the 1,000 women involved in indoor prostitution are migrants and that 90% of potential human trafficking victims are being investigated on the basis of sexual exploitation, some involving minors.

“The FF Government’s attempts to tackling sex trafficking have been, at best, piecemeal and insufficient. We must now put a comprehensive strategy in place to deal with the proliferation of sex trafficking into Ireland.

“Our law currently provides for a defence in court that they did not know that the person was trafficked.

“However, a new law for Britain will bring a provision of direct liability into force, meaning that ignorance to the fact an individual was sex trafficked will not be defensible in court. The net effect of the British law will be to push illegal traffickers south of the border to the Republic where our laws are not nearly as restrictive.”

Gerardine Rowley of Ruhama, which works with women in prostitution, said her organisation supported the Fine Gael motion.

“Ruhama has highlighted in the past our concerns regarding the use of asylum seekers’ hostels to accommodate victims of sex trafficking. We believe these hostels are totally unsuitable and we welcome Fine Gael’s emphasis on victim care,” she said.