Dr. Salome Mbugua:

I thank the Chair. I am joined by Dr. Nusha Yonkova, who leads IHREC's anti-trafficking team.

IHREC is an independent national human rights and equality body. Crucially, in the context of today’s discussion, it is also the national rapporteur on the trafficking of human beings under the EU's anti-trafficking directive. Our written submission focuses specifically on the trafficking aspects of the proposed legislation under Part 3. Our input today will focus largely on this area.

Ireland has a significant road to travel in the context of proactively preventing trafficking and, where it does occur, identifying and safeguarding victims while prosecuting perpetrators. For far too long, trafficking was treated as a crime that did not happen in Ireland. In 2008, we eventually legislated to punish this crime, but not for the assistance of victims. The proposed legislation has the potential to rebalance our anti-trafficking response. When we consider that over the course of the past two years there has not been a single identified child trafficking victim in Ireland - not one - it is clear there are significant gaps in our identification processes.

The current interplay between three systems, namely, those relating to international protection, human trafficking and general child protection, represents an elaborate approach to assistance that is not conducive to monitoring and accountability. This has caused the identification of child victims to grind to a standstill. A comprehensive national referral mechanism is at the core of an effective and functioning anti-trafficking response. The proposed Bill will give us a chance to establish a national referral mechanism that will apply to all victims of trafficking, regardless of their nationality and immigration status. It allows for a structured and formal process of identification, separate from the law enforcement process, and one that concludes with a swift and clearly communicated decision.

As national rapporteur, we are concerned about the safety of victims, and their need to have safe gender-specific accommodation, as well as wraparound materials and medical and psychological supports from the time they are identified. The law must be used to provide this minimal level of assistance. When victims feel safe they can begin to recover but we cannot make victims safe if we have not identified them.

I will highlight some other specific core issues. In the context of the focus on sexual offences, victims of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation should be afforded the same protections as victims of rape and other sexual assault offences in criminal trials. Despite the fact that head 5 in Part 2 would extend the provisions for separate legal representation to victims of other sexual offences, it would not extend them to victims of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Is sex trafficking not also a brutal and repetitive sexual offence?

There is an urgent need for a separate child trafficking identification mechanism, and an identification process for victims who lack capacity such as children or adults with diminished capacity, including age assessments. The term "exploitation" should be expanded in this proposed legislation to incorporate rarer forms of trafficking for exploitation, such as forced or exploitative marriages, the sale of children and illegal adoptions. The credibility requirement needs to be removed from heads 14 and 17. A low threshold in the context of reasonable grounds to believe is in line with best practice.

If we have a functioning identification system, we can support victims to participate in the criminal justice process if and when they are able. If we do not identify victims, they will be criminalised for other offences, usually immigration or drugs production offences. There is no specific provision in Irish law that protects victims of trafficking from punishment. I ask the members of the committee, as legislators, to fill this gap in the law that victimises the victims and to amend the 2008 anti-trafficking Act to include a specific statutory defence for victims of trafficking where they have committed crimes as a direct consequence of being trafficked. I thank the committee. We urge the swift adoption and implementation of this crucial proposed legislation.