ALMOST A quarter of human trafficking cases reported to An Garda in 2011 involved minors, a report by the Department of Justice’s Anti-Trafficking Unit has revealed.
The figures, contained in the Annual Report of Trafficking in Human Beings in Ireland for 2011, show An Garda dealt with 53 cases of alleged human trafficking last year, involving 57 people.
Almost two-thirds of those said they were trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Of the 37 who fell into this category, seven were children.
A further 13 said they had been trafficked for labour exploitation, four of whom were minors. Two others – one adult, one child – reported both labour and sexual exploitation. Five others were uncategorised. The majority, 84 per cent, were women or girls.
Just over half were African; nine were EU citizens from outside Ireland; two came from non-EU countries within Europe; eight were Asian and three came from Latin America. Six involved the alleged trafficking of Irish minors within the State; all these related to sexual exploitation.
Denise Charlton, chief executive of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, said the report underlined the need for Irish law to make it illegal to pay for sex.
“The figures cut through the lie being peddled by interest groups that the sex trade industry is like any other business and should be regulated for. In reality it is a trade which survives on threats, violence and abuse,” she said.
Gerardine Rowley of Ruhama, which supports victims of trafficking, said the figures were the “tip of the iceberg” and called for a change that would allow victims who had since entered the asylum process to avail of protection arrangements.