Zero tolerance for off- and online pimping as trafficking hits the headlines

Zero tolerance of commercial sexual exploitation must encompass a truly victim-centred approach, in which those who have been exploited can be assured they will be believed, supported and not prosecuted

Many of today’s pimps and traffickers spend much of their days on keyboards and glued to screens rather than lurking around the darker edges of town. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

This week has reminded us again of just how close to home human trafficking really is, as we learned of a young Ukrainian girl who appears to have been groomed and then trafficked into Ireland by a man known but unrelated to her. 

Age-old methods were used by the trafficker — preying on this young girl’s multiple vulnerabilities including, in this case, her youth, her learning disability, her experiences of neglect, and the fact she is fleeing a war — to groom and then ultimately to exploit her on Irish shores.