By Ruth Breslin
Prostitution and the commercial sex trade on and off-line are driving demand for a global criminal enterprise which is preying on our children.
The 2024 rallying call of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, ‘Leave No Child Behind’, reflects the experiences of law-enforcement, frontline services and advocates across the globe. We must not mislead ourselves; Ireland is not immune.
The United Nations is platforming some alarming facts.
One-in-three victims of human trafficking is a child. Children are more likely to be subject to violence than older victims. The trafficking of girls is predominantly for sexual exploitation.
There is no argument. There can be no dispute. These are the facts.
There is a perception that these are crimes which happen in far-away lands. We’re all aware of the destinations known for sex tourism and they can seem distant. Brothels in Asia, pimps preying on children in Africa and the abuse of children in wars and conflict can seem remote.
Any comfort we might try to draw from that geographical disconnect is a myth. To accept such a view is to follow the playbook of the pimps, traffickers and organised crime gangs.
Child trafficking for sexual and other forms of exploitation happens here.
At the Sexual Exploitation Research Programme (SERP) we know this from seven years of research made possible by our partnerships with Community Foundation Ireland, frontline service providers as well as the justice and health agencies of Government.
Our work is extensive and informs policy, not least Zero Tolerance, the current National Strategy to tackle Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. It allows us to amplify the voices of survivors of prostitution and human trafficking.
One of our recent studies, ‘Pathways to Exit’ found that almost one fifth of women seeking to leave prostitution had first been sexually exploited as young girls under 18. If replicated across the country, that is 200 of the 1,000 women and girls for sale online in any given week.
You cannot examine this issue without looking at the impact of the online sex trade. Escort agencies, violent pornography and discussion boards where abusers plan their crimes have poured rocket fuel onto a fire.
In addition to documenting the experiences of survivors and those working at the frontline during our research, we also endure the discomforting experience of monitoring these online ‘communities’.
Here the most used and searched for terms are ‘teen’ and ‘barely legal’. It does not take much to understand what is really happening.
We are currently working with Women’s Aid on a partnership supported by philanthropists at the Community Foundation to shine a spotlight onto this online activity, with the findings to be published in October.
The jump from such crimes and abuse in the virtual world to physical crimes is remarkably fast. Children living in poverty, growing up in violent homes or those who flee wars seeking safety are particularly at risk.
In further research ‘Protecting Against Predators’ we gave voice to the concerns of those working with these vulnerable children and the alarming reality of them disappearing from care to be sexually exploited.
We found evidence too of incidents of predatory men targeting locations where lone children are offered shelter and care. Again, joining the dots does not require much effort.
This is seedy, criminal and the actual reality of the sex trade. It bears no resemblance to the ‘happy hooker’ image which those who are lining their pockets like to portray and want you to believe.
Despite the determination of this illicit trade, as a country we have had successes. Laws targeting demand for these crimes by placing the burden of criminality on sex buyers have been followed with official recognition that prostitution is gender-based violence.
Commitments on expunging the historic criminal records of women previously prosecuted under our old laws, as well as legislative reforms to better support women and girls trafficked into Ireland, are positive responses to the extensive evidence on the harms of the sex trade that we have gathered.
However, pimps constantly seek to find ways to work around the laws. Accommodation for those who seek help remains problematic.
Asking abused women and girls to share centres with men is unacceptable. So too is the ability of those intent on exploiting girls to identify where they have been placed and seek to continue the abuse.
We must remain vigilant. We must be alert. Most importantly we must leave no child behind.
Ruth Breslin is the Lead Researcher with the Sexual Exploitation Research Programme
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