Human trafficking - Slavery we can’t ignore

WE like to imagine that we live in a society where slavery is not tolerated, but figures related to human trafficking – especially for what we sweeten by calling it the sex trade – suggest otherwise.

We cannot imagine that all of the women, many of them no more than girls, who work in Ireland’s brothels do so by choice. A minority may but only a fool or a liar would suggest that the majority do. Others may be trafficked for domestic or industrial exploitation.

Despite this, no one has been charged under the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act, 2008, despite 66 allegations of trafficking in 2009. Ireland has been identified as a destination for women, men, and children trafficked for sexual exploitation or forced labour.