Human trafficking in Ireland

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In 2008, Ireland was one of many destination countries for women, men, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. [1]

Contents

The Republic of Ireland ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in June 2010. [2] The Irish government has launched the ‘Blue Blindfold’ campaign to tackle this crime. [3]

An Irish report noted that between 2014 and 2019, there were 346 victims officially identified in the country, with a suspected 132 more to be confirmed. [4]

In its 2018 and 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report, the United States Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons noted that Ireland had been downgraded from a Tier 1 to a Tier 2 country, meaning it was no longer meeting "the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but [..] making significant efforts to do so". [5] The 2018 report highlighted "only three prosecutions" and "deficiencies in victim identification and referral" as reasons for the downgrading. [6] The country was placed at Tier 2 in 2023. [7]

International response

The 2022 GRETA report noted that the total number of presumed trafficking victims had more than halved since 2017; it also noted that there had been less investigations and no legal convictions since 2017. [8]

In 2023, the Organised Crime Index gave the country a score of 5 out of 10 for human trafficking, noting that this was mostly carried out by international groups who were also involved in the illegal cannabis market. [9]

In 2023, the International Organization for Migration published a report on human trafficking between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland; it noted that increasing numbers of east Africans were entering the Republic and using the Common Travel Area to travel to Northern Ireland and enter the UK, and recommended all-island training and closer information systems between the two countries. [10] [11] [12]

Legislation

In Ireland, human trafficking offences are governed by the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 and the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) (Amendment) Act 2013. [13] The 2008 act states that: [14]

(1) A person who trafficks a child for the purposes of the exploitation of the child shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) A person who -

(a) sells a child, offers or exposes a child for sale or invites the making of an offer to purchase a child, or

(b) purchases or makes an offer to purchase a child,

shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) A person who causes an offence under subsection (1) or (2) to be committed shall be guilty of an offence.

(4) A person who attempts to commit an offence under subsection (1), (2) or (3) shall be guilty of an offence.

(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable upon conviction on indictment -

(a) to imprisonment for life or a lesser term, and

(b) at the discretion of the court, to a fine.

(6) In this section “exploitation” does not include sexual exploitation. [15]

In 2017 there were reportedly three prosecutions under this legislation. [6]

US State Department reports

The US Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), as amended, requires the US Secretary of State to submit an Annual Report to the US Congress assessing the actions of various countries across the world in the fight against trafficking in persons.

The US State Department on Thursday released a report showing a 73 per cent increase in the number of detected cases of human trafficking in Ireland since 2014. Ireland still retained Tier 1 Status in the US State Department Annual Human Trafficking Report of 2015. Ireland's Tier 1 status means the country's controls met the minimum standard for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking.

As the Republic of Ireland had been assessed by the State Department as meeting the minimum standard for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking as set out in the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), (as amended) it retained its top Tier 1 rating in 2015. Ireland had been classified as Tier 1 for the previous six years. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

As is the norm for all countries, including Tier 1 countries, previous reports on Ireland have contained a number of recommendations for possible implementation. These recommendations are addressed within the context of the development of the Second National Action Plan to Prevent and Tackle Human Trafficking across the world. [22]

U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 1" in 2017. [23] However, in 2018 and 2019 the country was placed in "Tier 2". Other countries downgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 2, as of the 2019 report, included Germany and Denmark.

The country was placed at Tier 2 in 2023. [7]

Related Research Articles

Child sex tourism (CST) is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, which is commercially facilitated child sexual abuse. The definition of child in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is "every human being below the age of 18 years". Child sex tourism results in both mental and physical consequences for the exploited children, which may include sexually transmitted infections, "drug addiction, pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and death", according to the State Department of the United States. Child sex tourism, part of the multibillion-dollar global sex tourism industry, is a form of child prostitution within the wider issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Child sex tourism victimizes approximately 2 million children around the world. The children who perform as prostitutes in the child sex tourism trade often have been lured or abducted into sexual slavery.

Saudi Arabia ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in July 2007.

Singapore ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in the United Kingdom</span>

The United Kingdom (UK) is a destination country for men, women, and children primarily from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe who are subjected to human trafficking for the purposes of sexual slavery and forced labour, including domestic servitude. It is ranked as a "Tier 1" country by the US Department of State, which issues an annual report on human trafficking. "Tier 1" countries are those whose governments fully comply with The Trafficking Victims Protection Act's minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The TVPA is a federal statute of the United States. It is believed that some victims, including minors from the UK, are also trafficked within the country. It is also believed that migrant workers are trafficked to the UK for forced labour in agriculture, construction, food processing, domestic servitude, and food service. Source countries for trafficking victims in the UK include the United Arab Emirates, Lithuania, Russia, Albania, Ukraine, Malaysia, Thailand, the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Nigeria, and Ghana. Precise details about the extent of human trafficking within the UK are not available, and many have questioned the validity of some of the more widely quoted figures. In 2020, the US State Department estimated that there were 13,000 trafficking victims in the UK.

Uruguay is a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most victims are women, girls, and some boys trafficked within the country to border and tourist areas for sexual exploitation. A government agency has found that families had facilitated the exploitation of many children in prostitution. Impoverished parents reportedly turn over their children for domestic and agricultural servitude in rural areas. Some Uruguayan women have been trafficked to Spain and Italy for sexual exploitation. U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017.

In 2010, Human trafficking in India, although illegal under Indian law, remained a significant problem. People were frequently illegally trafficked through India for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced/bonded labour. Although no reliable study of forced and bonded labour was completed, NGOs estimated this problem affected 20 to 65 million Indians. Men, women and children were trafficked in India for diverse reasons. Women and girls were trafficked within the country for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage, especially in those areas where the sex ratio is highly skewed in favour of men. Men and boys were trafficked for the purposes of labour, and may be sexually exploited by traffickers to serve as gigolos, massage experts, escorts, etc. A significant portion of children are subjected to forced labour as factory workers, domestic servants, beggars, and agriculture workers, and have been used as armed combatants by some terrorist and insurgent groups.

Human trafficking in Israel includes the trafficking of men and women into the country for forced labor and sex slavery. The country has made serious efforts to reduce the problem in recent years and now ranks 90th out of 167 countries who provide data. Identification of victims, criminal justice work and efforts to co-ordinate with business and government agencies has been concerted in reducing this problem in the last decade.

Kenya ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in January 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons</span> USA government agency

The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP) is an agency within the United States Department of State charged with investigating and creating programs to prevent human trafficking both within the United States and internationally. The office also presents the Trafficking in Persons Report annually to Congress, concerning human trafficking in the U.S. and other nations. This report aims to raise awareness about human exploitation and trafficking, and to prevent it. The office's goals are to make the public aware, protect victims, take legal action against violators, establish necessary and just sentences for criminals, and train law enforcement individuals. The office is led by the United States Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Human trafficking in Canada is prohibited by law, and is considered a criminal offence whether it occurs entirely within Canada or involves the "transporting of persons across Canadian borders. Public Safety Canada (PSC) defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in order to exploit that person, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour. It is often described as a modern form of slavery."

Prostitution in Northern Ireland is governed by the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act 2015, which makes it illegal to pay for sex in Northern Ireland. Prior to the act coming into effect, prostitution in Northern Ireland was regulated by the same or similar laws to those in England and Wales, as it is elsewhere in the United Kingdom. At that time, prostitution in Northern Ireland was legal subject to a number of restraints which controlled certain activities associated with prostitution, such as soliciting, procuring, living on the proceeds of prostitution (pimping), exploitation of prostitutes, under-age prostitution, and keeping a brothel. However, devolution provided the opportunity for separate legislation in Northern Ireland.

Barbados is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Some children in Barbados are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation in “transactional sex” wherein a third party such as a parent receives a benefit from the child's participation in sexual activity. Researchers identified patterns of transactional sex within families, most often by adult male caretakers such as step-fathers, as well as child prostitution outside the home. Women from the Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Jamaica voluntarily enter Barbados as illegal migrants, and some expect to engage in prostitution. Some of these women are exploited in forced prostitution subsequent to their arrival. Some other foreign women who entered the country illegally are exploited in involuntary domestic servitude in private homes. Foreign men have been transported to Barbados for the purpose of labor exploitation in construction and other sectors. Sex traffickers, primarily organized criminals from Guyana, form partnerships with pimps and brothel owners from Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, and lure women to Barbados with offers of legitimate work. Trafficking victims tend to enter the country through legal means, usually by air; traffickers later use force and coercion to obtain and maintain the victims' work in strip clubs, massage parlors, some private residences, and “entertainment clubs” which operate as brothels. Traffickers use methods such as threats of physical harm or deportation, debt bondage, false contracts, psychological abuse, and confinement to force victims to work in construction, the garment industry, agriculture, or private households.

In 2009, Norway was a destination and to a lesser extent, a transit and origin country for women and girls subjected to human trafficking, specifically forced prostitution, and men and women subjected to forced labor in the domestic service and construction sectors. Some foreign migrants may have been subjected to forced labor in the health care sector. Victims identified in 2009 originated in 45 countries, but most originated in Nigeria or other African countries and Eastern Europe. Often, victims were from minority groups in their countries of origin. Criminal organizations were often involved in human trafficking in Norway, and trafficking schemes varied by victims' countries of origin. Children in Norwegian refugee centers and migrants denied asylum were vulnerable to human trafficking in Norway; 44 children went missing from refugee centers during the 2009 calendar year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Ghana</span>

In 2009, Ghana was a country of origin, transit, and destination for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. The nonconsensual exploitation of Ghanaian citizens, particularly children, was more common than the trafficking of foreign migrants. The movement of internally trafficked children was either from rural to urban areas, or from one rural area to another, as from farming to fishing communities.

In 2009 Mauritius was not a major source for children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced prostitution within the country. Secondary school-age girls and, to a lesser extent, younger girls from all areas of the country, including from Rodrigues Island, were induced into prostitution, often by their peers, family members, or businessmen offering other forms of employment. Taxi drivers were known to provide transportation and introductions for both the girls and the clients. Girls and boys whose mothers engaged in prostitution were reportedly forced into prostitution at a young age. Some drug-addicted women were forced into prostitution by their boyfriends, who serve as their pimps. In Great Britain, two Malagasy nationals were convicted in 2009 of holding a small number of Mauritian nationals, as well as citizens of other countries, in conditions of forced labor; this appeared to be an isolated case of transnational human trafficking involving Mauritian citizens. Students from all over the world were forced into prostitution within the country.

In 2009 Brunei was a destination, and to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for men and women who were subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Men and women from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, China, and Thailand migrated to Brunei for domestic or other low-skilled labor but sometimes faced conditions of involuntary servitude upon arrival. There were over 88,000 migrant workers in Brunei, some of whom faced debt bondage, non-payment of wages, passport confiscation, confinement to the home, and contract switching - factors that may contribute to trafficking. There were credible reports of nationals from South Asian countries subjected to nonpayment of wages and debt bondage in Brunei for up to two years to pay back foreign recruitment agents. Some of the 25,000 female domestic workers in Brunei were required to work exceptionally long hours without being granted a day for rest, creating an environment consistent with involuntary servitude. There are reports of women forced into prostitution in Brunei, and reports that women arrested for prostitution attest to having been victims of trafficking. Brunei is a transit country for trafficking victims in Malaysia, including Filipinas, who are brought to Brunei for work permit re-authorization before being returned to Malaysia.

Bulgaria ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in December 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in New Zealand</span>

Human trafficking is a crime in New Zealand under Section 98D of the Crimes Act 1961. In 2002, the New Zealand Government ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, a protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). New Zealand participates in efforts to combat human trafficking in the Asia-Pacific region, and has a leadership role in the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Human Trafficking and related Transnational Crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Heart Campaign</span> Anti-trafficking program by the UNODC

The Blue Heart Campaign is an international anti-trafficking program started by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Established in 1997, the UNODC supported countries in implementing three UN drug protocols. In 2000, after the UN General Assembly adopted the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, the UNODC became the “guardian” of that protocol and assumed the functions of fighting against human trafficking. The Blue Heart Campaign was launched in March 2009 by the Executive Director of the UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa, during his address to the World's Women's Conference meeting in Vienna. The campaign's symbol is a blue heart. The Blue Heart Campaign uses its website, as well as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr to communicate goals, objectives, and news with the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trafficking in Persons Report</span> Annual report by U.S. State Department

The Trafficking in Persons Report, or the TIP Report, is an annual report issued since 2001 by the U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. It ranks governments based on their perceived efforts to acknowledge and combat human trafficking.

References

  1. ↑ "Ireland". Trafficking in Persons Report 2008. U.S. Department of State (June 4, 2008). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ↑ United Nations Treaty Collection website, Chapter XVIII Penal Matters section, Section 12a, retrieved August 19, 2024
  3. ↑ Irish Government website, Department of Justice section, Blue Blindfold
  4. ↑ Mary Immaculate College Ireland website, Victims of Human Trafficking are Hidden in Plain Sight, article dated April 29, 2021
  5. ↑ "Ireland 2019 - United States Department of State". State.gov. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 "2018 Trafficking in Persons Report: Ireland". state.gov. Retrieved 31 May 2020. The government has not obtained a trafficking conviction since the law was amended in 2013; it initiated only three prosecutions in 2017, and had chronic deficiencies in victim identification and referral. Therefore Ireland was downgraded to Tier 2
  7. 1 2 US Government website, Trafficking in Persons Report 2023
  8. ↑ Council of Europe website, GRETA publishes its second report on Ireland, article dated September 28, 2022
  9. ↑ Organised Crime Index website, Ireland: 2023, retrieved August 19, 2024
  10. ↑ IOM website, UK section, IOM releases report on human trafficking between Northern Ireland and Ireland, article dated October 18, 2023
  11. ↑ BBC website, Two appear in court over NI human trafficking operation, article dated August 28, 2024
  12. ↑ BBC websitem ,NI human trafficking cases double, figures reveal, article by Ita Dungan, March 2, 2023
  13. ↑ "Human trafficking". Citizensinformation.ie. 3 July 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  14. ↑ "Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008". Irishstatutebook.ie. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  15. ↑ "Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008". Irish Statute Book. Government of Ireland. This article contains quotations from this source, which is released under the Oireachtas Open Data PSI Licence, which applies the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
  16. ↑ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2015: Tier Placements" (PDF). www.state.gov. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  17. ↑ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2014: Tier Placements" (PDF). www.state.gov. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  18. ↑ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2013: Tier Placements" (PDF). www.state.gov. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  19. ↑ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2012: Ireland" (PDF). www.state.gov. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  20. ↑ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2011: Ireland". www.state.gov. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  21. ↑ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2010: Ireland". www.state.gov. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  22. ↑ "National Action Plan". Blue Blindfold.
  23. ↑ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2017: Tier Placements". www.state.gov. Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
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