Ms Monica O'Connor:

As Dr. Pillinger said, we are forgetting that the same circumstances of vulnerability apply to young migrant women, 90% of whom are engaged in the prostitution industry in Ireland. This relates to the Chairman's point about the continuum of vulnerability.

There is also a continuum of coercion and deception. The Lithuanian Minister told me that they do not need to lock these girls up in vans and take them across borders in chains. The reality is they deceive them about the glamorous life they will have in Ireland. They go through Lithuania and come here thinking they will be models. These are 16 and 17 year old girls. Focusing on force and coercion and not looking at the vulnerability and risk factors, as Dr. Pillinger said, and the targeting of those vulnerabilities is very naïve. It is also very disingenuous to differentiate between girls who are trafficked and those who are not trafficked. The reality is that when they end up in the circumstances in Ireland, they are in equally exploitative situations regardless of the means of entry. I believe that Dr. Pillinger would agree with me that at a policy level in Europe there is a shift in seeing that continuum. A recent report referred to it as a continuum of predatory practices. Rather than simply saying there is this very clear division, it is a whole continuum of coercion. It is very rare that on reaching 21 a person wakes up and says: "Today is the day I won't go to medical school and will go down to the local brothel." The continuum is very important in regard to coercion and also in terms of choice.