Sex slaves - Kidnapped and raped

The Immigrant Council of Ireland reports that teenagers and women trafficked into Ireland for sex face “daily rapes” in brothels and are quickly moved around the country to satisfy demand from sex buyers for “fresh meat”.

This hardly reflects the kind of behaviour that defines a caring and civilised society. That every society has an underworld where this kind of brutal criminality thrives is hardly a defence either.

The idea that someone, usually young and innocent, might be trafficked here to work in the sex industry runs counter to our self-image. The reality is that many of these unfortunate people are more or less kidnapped and than enslaved by criminals to be sold and sold again to men in Ireland who believe that the money they pay pimps gives them rights they would not dare assert elsewhere.