Sex-trafficking is one of EU’s most lucrative crimes and it’s here, too

The life of prostitution and sex-trafficking set out by Nina Burleigh (‘Pretty Woman’ hides the ugly reality of prostitution, Irish Examiner, Opinion, March 25) is one with which frontline agencies across Ireland can identify.

At the Immigrant Council of Ireland, this has been our most demanding year in representing women who were brought to this country to be forced into prostitution. In 2014, our Independent Law Centre and frontline services worked with 19 women who were sex-trafficked.

Our communities are not immune from what is one of the most lucrative crimes in the European Union: 30,146 victims have been discovered in three years. Sexual exploitation is the goal of 69% of all human trafficking in Europe, and it rivals the drugs trade in scope.