Sex traffic probe after rape victim flees city brothel
Woman was imprisoned and assaulted by gang
Sunday October 11 2009
Gardai are investigating a human trafficking operation where young women from eastern Europe are being brought here, imprisoned, raped and forced into prostitution.
Gardai were last week dealing with one case of the human trafficking of a young woman in north inner-city Dublin and in the south of the city gardai were questioning two Irish men about the suspected abduction, rape and murder of an abandoned Roma gypsy teenager last January.
The existence of the latest ring came to light when a distraught and badly-beaten young Romanian woman contacted gardai after escaping from an apartment in North Great George's Street in Dublin city centre two weeks ago. She had been imprisonment by the gang in the apartment for several days and was raped and beaten by her captors.
When she escaped she telephoned her family in Romania who instructed her to contact the police. She told gardai she had been promised a cleaning job here but when she arrived the gang took her passport and imprisoned her. They subjected her to prolonged violence and were intent on forcing her into prostitution.
When she went to gardai she was severely bruised and lumps of hair had been torn from her head.
One man was arrested and is currently in custody on assault charges. Further charges may be brought.
Gardai admit they have no idea as to the extent of the trade in humans for either enslaved domestic work, prostitution or crime. They do know that large numbers of children from the Roma gypsy population of eastern Europe are brought here to be thieves. The revenue generated by these child thieves and other enslaved members of the Roma community is building palaces for the heads of the trafficking families who are mainly based in the town of Timisoara, Romania.
Three members of one of these families are currently awaiting sentencing in Timisoara after an operation by Wexford gardai who uncovered a ring responsible for trafficking hundreds of Roma into Ireland. The three alleged leaders of the gang had been charging their victims high fees to get into Ireland then extorting most of their wages.
The 40-year-old head of the family, his son and a nephew are before the courts in Romania as a result of information supplied by the gardai to Romanian police. Gardai provided the authorities in Romania with statements and evidence about the case a year ago. The three face up to 15 years' imprisonment.
However, as in the case involving the Romanian girl -- who is not a member of the Roma community -- almost all of these cases come to light only when a victim escapes and comes to the gardai.
Garda sources say the other area where they have concerns is in the growth in prostitution that appears to be organised by Chinese gangs, particularly in Dublin. Unlike the eastern European brothels, which advertise on the internet, the Chinese advertise as "massage" parlours which is causing difficulties for the many legitimate professionals offering Chinese therapies.
- Jim Cusack
Sunday Independent
