Rape, abuse of migrants rife in €180m illicit trade
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HUNDREDS of women are being sexually exploited in Ireland's flourishing €180m-a-year illicit sex industry.
A new report catalogues a litany of abuse, rape and exploitation for profit, of migrant women -- the vast majority of them from African countries.
And the report reveals that an estimated 1,000 women work in Irish brothels on any given day, charging their mostly highly educated and middle-income male clients an average of €150 for a half hour and €250 an hour.
'Globalisation, Sex Trafficking and Prostitution -- The Experiences of Migrant Women in Ireland', which was commissioned by the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI), says that more than 100 women were identified as being trafficked over a 21-month period between 2007 and last year.
They were either being brought into this country or through it, as a route to other markets in the illicit sex trade such as the UK.
But the total number of victims in Ireland is believed to be far higher. More than a fifth of the 100 identified women claimed they were aware of another 60 or more women trafficked into this country.
None of the victims knew they were being recruited into the sex industry, with some of them passed over to Irish brothel owners immediately on their arrival here.
Launching the report, ICI founder, Sr Stan Kennedy said the shocking level of exploitation of migrant women within the Irish indoor sex industry demanded an urgent and comprehensive response from the Government.
Sickening
"This report uncovers a heartbreaking and sickening litany of rape, abuse and exploitation for profit of migrant women on Irish soil.
"Yet often, our first official response is to look for breaches of immigration law, rather than addressing the urgent need to provide appropriate services and assistance."
ICI chief executive Denise Charlton said the Government must work to end demand in response to trafficking and the exploitation of women and girls.
"We call on the Government to criminalise the buying of sex in Ireland and to put in place effective programmes which examine the legal and human rights implications and the realities of prostitution."
Fine Gael spokesman for immigration, Denis Naughten, said: "Ireland's approach to tackling sex trafficking has been piecemeal and insufficient. We must now put a comprehensive strategy in place."
The report reveals that of the 102 women trafficked into the country during the 21-month period, 11 were children.
The vast majority of the 1,000 women working in Irish brothels were migrants of more than 50 nationalities with ages ranging from 18 to 58. But there was also evidence that some girls as young as 16 were involved.
The wide-ranging report calls for a series of measures including a national action plan to prevent and combat human trafficking.
There were calls for measures to allow women to move out of prostitution and to decriminalise women who sell sex.
- Fergus Black
