Victims of trafficking are not being recognised, conference to hear
The under-identification of underage victims is one of the main impediments to effectively tackling human trafficking in Ireland, a conference on the subject will hear.
Technology and Human Trafficking, organised by Cork Against Human Trafficking, takes place today in County Hall on Thursday 30 July.
The conference will hear that frontline professionals in Ireland are not trained to recognise underage victims of trafficking.
JP O’Sullivan, Operations Manager at MECPATHS, said that this was a massive impediment to tackling trafficking in Ireland. He said that frontline professionals are not trained to see the indicators of trafficking. MECPATHS is Ireland’s only organisation dedicated exclusively to addressing the issue of child trafficking.
Since 2020, he said that approximately 36 children had been identified as victims of trafficking in Ireland. By contrast, in the UK over the same period, approximately 36,000 children had been identified.
He said that this was due to the fact that training was provided in the UK to every professional frontline worker who may come into contact with children. By contrast, only private security staff are legally mandated to receive this training in Ireland.
However, he added that the political will to tackle the issue does not exist in Ireland.
“It’s as simple as, if the state recognises that this is a significant issue, or that this is happening to children, then the state is duty bound to respond.
“Being duty-bound to respond you have to draw on resources, be they financial, or human to respond to the issue,” he said.
Trafficking has also become a significant issue online. Mick Moran, CEO of the Irish Internet Hotline, said that highlighting and identifying cases in the state needs to be proactive rather than reactive. He said that remote sexual abuse and grooming online for the purposes of trafficking have both become serious issues.
However, combating human trafficking in Ireland is difficult.
He said that something which is needed vitally is the cooperation of financial companies, especially those who handle inter-state transactions.
“WIthout the financial companies - the banks, the credit card companies, the likes of Western Union, the financial companies that transfer funds from country to country - without them spotting the patterns from happening, it’s very hard for the offences to be disclosed," he said.
Perceptions of who are the typical victims and perpetrators of human trafficking also frequently lead to misidentification.
O’Sullivan said that the focus on unaccompanied minors and children seeking international protection meant that the main demographic of children who are trafficked in Ireland - Irish nationals - are missed.
“What we’re seeing on the ground is the significant recruitment of Irish national children for sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation.
“Children born in the state to Irish parents are presenting with a vulnerability, and this vulnerability is being exploited by networks of individuals and the exploitation happens from there,” he said.
He said that the majority of children fall into either one of two categories.
They are being trafficked either by someone that they know - a family friend, or a ‘boyfriend’- or they are being trafficked by members of their own family, most commonly parents.
Both O’Sullivan and Moran said that what was seriously needed in Ireland was improved identification of the victims of trafficking.
The Irish Internet Hotline is a national service for reporting illegal content seen online, including child sexual abuse material.
The service is funded and supported by internet service providers and telecommunications companies active in Ireland.
MECPATHS provides training for frontline staff to recognise potential victims of trafficking.