Pimps will be liable to five-year prison term, says Minister

PIMPS FORCING people trafficked into Ireland into prostitution, and customers who have sex with those trafficked, will be liable to prison terms of up to five years, under legislation which has been passed by the Dáil and Seanad.

Introducing a new amendment to the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Bill 2007, Minister of State Brendan Smith said the offence would not be easy to enforce. "However, it could be useful in certain circumstances, such as where a trafficked person is forced to operate from a hotel room, a room in an apartment block, where other residents may become aware of what is going on." He added: "It may also prove useful in planned Garda raids on brothels where trafficked persons are compelled to operate."

The amendment provides that the trafficked person who is forced to work as a prostitute does not commit an offence. It also differs from the existing provision, which is essentially a public order offence, in that the person soliciting can be in any public or private place and the penalties in the new offence are more severe.

Mr Smith said that Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan had cautioned that any such offence "would have to be credible and enforceable. Placing such a criminal offence in the Bill would have to be more than a sign of society's intolerance and condemnation of persons using the services of those unfortunate persons who were trafficked into Ireland for the purposes of sexual exploitation".

The existing provision linked to soliciting for prostitution is essentially a public order offence.

Fine Gael spokesman on migration and integration Denis Naughten welcomed the amendment and said that "for the first time . . . someone who avails of such services will be criminalised". He called on the Minister to consider establishing an all-party group to consider introducing legislation which would criminalise the purchase of sexual services in general.

He said: "There is a clear correlation between supply and demand in all markets. If the demand dries up, the supply is redundant."

Mr Naughten added that agencies such as Ruhama and the Rape Crisis Centre have noted ". . . there is a greater demand for young foreign women who travel to Ireland, many of whom it is strongly suspected are being trafficked to be exploited".