Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. Human trafficking in any form, as most civilised people will agree, is nothing less than a grave evil and a serious violation of human rights. Any legislation proposed to strengthen, support and enforce laws against the exploitation, in any manner, of human beings must be embraced and supported. Estimates from the UN suggest that on a worldwide scale, between 700,000 and 4 million women and children are trafficked each year for the purpose of forced labour, forced prostitution, organ removal, forced begging and many other forms of exploitation. Many victims of human trafficking are subjected to the most evil of acts and terrible human violations such as rape, starvation, forced abortion and torture. If the victims refuse to co-operate, in many cases the lives and welfare of their families and loved ones are threatened.

The International Labour Organization estimates that the forced labour industry alone comprises some 2.4 million people. Even closer to home, the 2010 report of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime on trafficking in persons to Europe for sexual exploitation stated that this is "one of the most lucrative illicit businesses in Europe", making approximately $2.5 billion per year. On a global scale, that figure jumps to $7 billion. One of the most frightening statistics I have read is that in Europe alone at any one time there are 140,000 victims forced into a vicious cycle of violence, abuse and degradation, and as terrible as this is, up to 70,000 additional victims are exploited each year.

Human trafficking is a deplorable form of slavery operating on a global scale, including in Ireland where, according to Cois Tine, victims are used to provide slave labour or are forced into prostitution. Ruhama is an organisation that is often mentioned approvingly in this House and rightly so. According to this Dublin-based NGO, which works at a national level with women who are affected by prostitution or are commercially exploited in other ways, human trafficking for sexual exploitation in Ireland is growing. Ruhama's first contact with a woman who was the victim of sex trafficking was in 2000, but over the last ten years, Ireland has become both a transit route and a destination point for sex trafficking. Although the number of women involved is unknown because of the secretive and the highly organised nature of this business, it is very clear that Ireland is included in an international crime web which extends across eastern Europe, South America and Africa. Most victims are young women from impoverished backgrounds who are sometimes abducted but more usually duped into undertaking the dangerous and illegal journey to Ireland. Often their traffickers are partners or members of their extended family.

During the last decade, Ireland has experienced a growth in the indoor sex trade in particular, involving escort agencies, massage parlours and lap dancing clubs. These provide indoor prostitution and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation. A devastating consequence of this is that the trafficking of women and children has thrived in the indoor sector. Indoor prostitution has often been viewed as more glamorous and socially acceptable than street prostitution partly because alcohol and drug abuse are not accepted in that arena. However, Ruhama's experience suggests that women involved in indoor prostitution experience more psychological problems and are, in some ways, more damaged by the process than those who work on the streets. It is a matter of serious concern that the indoor sex trade in Ireland is predominantly organised and controlled by organised crime gangs, both Irish and international.

Where is our regard for human dignity? How is it still the case that we tolerate advertisements for sex chat lines on TV3, for example, which are perfectly legal here? On this and other issues, including abortion, we must not let certain categories of human being disappear. We must not forget our duty of care and concern to whole categories of human being. We must include people from other lands who are vulnerable, having been duped or forced to come to our country. We must not allow any situation whereby the human dignity of such people is forgotten. That is unconscionable and we must do everything to resist and change that.

I especially welcome this Bill today but obviously, as Senator Hayden eloquently pointed out, enforcement will be the critical issue. I welcome the addition of the definitions for "beg" and "forced labour" in the Bill. This supports the recent UN report of February 2013, where the need for tougher efforts to identify, prevent and prosecute cases of forced labour, involving millions of people worldwide, was highlighted. An equally positive addition is the proposed amendment that would see very serious consequences for any public official involved in any way in human trafficking during the performance of his or her duties. Such people have special responsibilities and it is right and proper that there should be special consequences for any illegalities involving public officials. The proposed amendment of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 is also most welcome and will ensure a public official involved in the sexual exploitation of children would also be liable to receive a more severe sentence for his or her actions.

In the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons report of 2012, Ireland was identified as a destination, source and transit country for women, men and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour, with forced labour victims found in domestic service and restaurant work. According to the report, some victims have been subjected to domestic servitude by foreign diplomats on assignment to Ireland in recent years. NGO experts described how cities such as Dublin, Kilkenny and Cork have children who are victims of forced prostitution. The report acknowledges that the Irish Government fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and also how it undertook crucial procedures in investigating and preventing domestic servitude among employees of diplomats.

However, it raised a concern about the lack of any full prosecution and conviction of trafficking offenders. We have come to the nub of the issue. Although a sex trafficker was convicted of prostituting a minor, that prosecution did not use the 2008 Act.

While all identified victims of human trafficking in Ireland receive services regardless of their immigration status, victims from non-EU countries also receive services and sought to obtain refugee status through the asylum process. However, some non-governmental organisations, NGOs, criticised this process for resulting in inadequate care and not providing enough protection of victims' rights, particularly when compared with the provisions on trafficked victims.

When it is known that the trafficking of human beings exists in Ireland, it must be seen as being completely unacceptable that, in the five years since the Act, not a single prosecution has been taken using that law. I accept that the Government has not stood still and deserves commendation for introducing initiatives such as the blue blindfold campaign, which raises awareness of human trafficking, but not enough has been done to protect innocent victims of this atrocious crime. Even one victim is one too many.

The guide to procedures for victims, which was published by the Department of Justice and Equality, addresses the services available to them and options for the future, among other matters. Thanks to the Immigration Council of Ireland, it was discovered that the Government had failed to outline procedures for human trafficking victims with special needs, be that in terms of physical or mental health, who had become pregnant as a result of sexual exploitation or who had become disabled through torture or violence. This issue cannot be put on the long finger. It must be discussed in detail now.

Not only should those who organise and control the sexual exploitation of men, women or children be convicted and severely prosecuted, but those who purchase sexual services are just as guilty and should be held accountable for their actions in the same way. The Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality is working on a report on this matter. On many issues, we face a dilemma when the Government, the media or the public sends mixed messages. We need to be clear. Apart from prosecuting wrongdoing, the law is an educator. What it permits and punishes contributes to what people do. It is a significant influencing factor in behaviour. When it comes to the question of whether we should criminalise the users of persons in prostitution, there can only be one answer - "Yes". We cannot have a situation in which a pimp or, in certain situations, a prostitute can be criminalised, yet the person who purchases sexual services cannot. It is no answer to claim that those who avail of prostitutes are sometimes sad people who are to be pitied. This can be reflected in sentencing. The message needs to be loud and clear - for the sake of human dignity, equality between men and women and the way in which the upcoming generation treats other people, it must be a crime to purchase another person's body. There is no other sane or civilised answer to the question. I hope that we will move in this direction in the coming months and that the Government will take a principled decision on the issue and will not engage in double speak and hand-wringing about the sex industry, using unfortunate and meaningless cliches like "It has always been around". Murder has always been around, but we see fit to criminalise that, thank God. I hope that the Government will take a lead, following the example of Nordic countries, and that we will see change.