Yes vote will boost battle against sex trafficking

THE trafficking of women and children from poor west African and eastern European countries is one of the most horrendous cross-border crimes to emerge in recent years.

According to a report last April from the Immigrant Council of Ireland, more than 100 women and girls were identified as having been trafficked into Ireland for the sex industry in a 21-month period and it stressed this was just “the tip of the iceberg”.

If we vote Yes to the Lisbon Treaty, it will provide the EU with the means to tackle such cross-border crimes. Through the creation of new institutions such as the president of the European Council, the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy and a new external action service, the treaty will equip the EU to fight not only the trafficking of women and children, but also money-laundering, arms trafficking, counterfeiting and terrorism. These are crimes that affect all states but can only be tackled by working together with our fellow EU member states.