Rise in child sex offences related to human trafficking 

Government moves to improve its record on tackling human trafficking after a critical international report

Garda records under the category “Human Trafficking” include sexual exploitation of a child, labour exploitation of a child, similar offences regarding an adult and prostitution offences. File photo

Human trafficking-related offences involving the sexual exploitation of children have increased significantly in recent years, figures show.

The figures come amid renewed pledges by the Government to improve the country’s response to human trafficking following a critical US report on Ireland’s record in the area last July.

That US State Department report sparked concern in Ireland, including from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, which said it should act as a “wake up” call for the Government.

Garda figures show that a total of 194 offences have been recorded under the two pieces of legislation covering human trafficking between 2010 and 2021. These include 122 offences under the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 and 72 offences under the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000.

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In reply to a parliamentary question asked by Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said there were 377 additional incidents of human trafficking offences still under investigation or where charges under separate laws were brought.

Garda records under the category “Human Trafficking” include sexual exploitation of a child, labour exploitation of a child, similar offences regarding an adult and prostitution offences.

Ms McEntee said Courts Service data provides information on the number of human trafficking-related offences and the number of people charged before the District Court and sent forward for trial.

A breakdown of offences relating to the sexual exploitation of children show that the number of offences increased steadily over the last 10 years: from 17 in 2010 to 24 in 2015 before increasing significantly to 95 in 2017.

After then, the numbers continued to increase from 138 in 2018 to 324 in 2019, before reducing to 157 in 2020 and 280 in 2021. The latter two years were during the pandemic, where the vast majority of crime incidents fell including those involving movement from one country to another.

Figures in relation to the number of people charged with the above offences show that they have also increased, with the numbers themselves still quite low. They increased from two charges in 2010 to 11 in 2015 and to 24 in 2017, reaching a high of 32 in 2019. 

There were 30 charges brought in 2020 and 17 in 280. The vast majority of all the crimes were sent forward for trial to the Circuit Court.

Offences show just three offences of trafficking of a child for the purposes of sexual exploitation over the last 10 years, with one each in 2013, 2015 and 2017, with none since.

Most of the offences relate to ‘take/detain/restrict liberty of a child for sexual exploitation' (107) and 'sexual exploitation of a child' (1,010).

Ms McEntee said the Government had approved placing the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) – which allows state and voluntary agencies to share information about potential victims of human trafficking - on a statutory footing.