I thank the joint committee for inviting us to attend today. Since 1989 Ruhama has been working with women involved in prostitution. The issue of the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation came to our attention in 2000 when we had our first confirmed victim of trafficking. We have publicly voiced our concerns regarding the growth of trafficking for sexual exploitation on a number of occasions since.
As an agency working directly with women caught in the sex industry, I would first like to briefly highlight changes that have taken place within the industry in Ireland in recent years; the experience of women caught up in trafficking in Ireland; the services we can provide; using that background, to set out our position on trafficking and prostitution, and the legislative approach we would like to see adopted. There have been huge changes within the industry since 1989. For a number of years the majority of women involved in street prostitution with whom we worked were Irish, most of them operating for themselves with no involvement of serious criminal gangs. While there were brothels, their prevalence was much less than today. Encounters with non-national women were extremely rare. Today, the industry has become highly organised and is firmly linked with the global crime network. There is much greater tolerance of sexual exploitation of women for entertainment in Ireland today and there appears to be an increasing desensitisation within society in general to the abuses involved, but the stigma for the women involved remains the same.
Information technology and newer forms of communication such as mobile phones, Internet advertising, escort agencies etc. are replacing street-walking as a way of making contact with clients. This makes it easier for pimps and procurers to operate and renders an already secretive trade even more invisible. Within the domestic prostitution scene, the majority of women working on the streets are drug abusers and predominantly Irish nationals. Non-nationals trafficked into the country are young, in their late teens or early twenties, and operate from brothels and private apartments.
Up to today Ruhama knows of more than 200 women trafficked into Ireland in recent years. We have come into direct contact with 101 women, of whom we have assisted 48. These numbers may appear small but we believe for a number of reasons that they are only the tip of the iceberg. Most of the women with whom we have worked have indicated to us that they know of five or six other women in similar circumstances. We are a small agency and our capacity to meet women is quite limited, given the undercover nature and near invisibility of the business. There is a lack of knowledge generally among service providers in recognising trafficked women or understanding the profile of a trafficked woman. Hence, they are not always identified through other services and referred to us.
In our direct service we have met women from Romania, Albania, Ukraine, Croatia, Moldova, Lithuania, Russia, the Czech Republic, Venezuela, Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa. Almost without exception, theirs is a story of abuse — sexual, emotional and psychological — from the time they were coerced or enticed from their homes. Most have experienced systematic violence. Some came with boyfriends or people they trusted who, shortly after arriving here, forced them into prostitution. Others knew, on some level at least, on leaving their countries that they would be entering some part of the sex industry but never imagined the levels of control and violence they would have to endure. The situation of each of the women with whom we deal is different and complex and their safety and other needs need to be assessed on an individual basis. Invariably, they need very intensive levels of support, given the trauma they have endured and the fact that they have no family or social network to fall back on. During the years Ruhama has built a group of volunteers, currently numbering more than 40, who support our much smaller staff in providing support on a rota basis. We have been able to give, with the numbers who have come through to us, the levels of support required.
The service we offer can be summarised as follows. Shelter is the first priority. We pay for bed and breakfast accommodation in safe locations and are building a database of a network of contacts nationwide who can provide us with accommodation. We refer women to specialist health services. There is interpretation, counselling and legal advice. During the years we have built contacts with a number of professionals in these areas — people who can provide translation services, counsellors who understand the psychological trauma involved and have worked with us and women involved in prostitution, lawyers who advise on the asylum and immigration process. Some of these services are volunteered. Others we pay for, usually at a concessionary rate. Other services include in-house training which typically includes literacy, language and computer training.
The women with whom we have worked have been with us for varying periods of time from a few days to a couple of months or, in a few cases, a couple of years. No woman in our service to date has been deported, but women have chosen to be repatriated, while others have been given leave to remain. We often find that women will take the first opportunity to go home, fearful and distrustful of the police here, the situation and environment they are in. This may not always be the best option for them, as there are very real dangers of being picked up by traffickers again. They also face huge difficulties of reintegration because of the stigma attached to prostitution and the post-traumatic stress involved. A period of reflection here to help them get back on their feet would be important. However, lacking the legislation, there are few long-term options that Ruhama can place before them.
I would like to speak a little on trafficking and prostitution and how they are interrelated. Trafficking is a contemporary form of slavery. For Ruhama, trafficking and prostitution are about exploitation; in this case, the exploitation of women as sexual commodities to be bought and sold. For us, the two are inseparable. Trafficked women are often prostituted locally first and when deported back to their own country, get caught up in the sex trade again. If there were not an organised sex industry to receive them at this end, if the demand for commercial sexual services was not there, the trade in women and children would not be so lucrative. If it was not such a profitable pursuit, criminals would not be drawn to it. The deeper one explores this domino effect the more convincing is the conclusion that society's ambivalent attitude towards prostitution, an attitude that accepts the idea of trading in human beings in this way and does not see it as exploitation or as violence against women, is ultimately what perpetuates the injustice and allows it to continue.
In 1949 the United Nations was clear that organised prostitution was the economic and structural foundation of sex trafficking. Today, we engage in meaningless debate about forced and free prostitution, about whether a woman was coerced into being trafficked and assign sympathy or condemnation accordingly. Ruhama believes this only clouds and confuses the issue. If, nationally and internationally, we were able to view this issue through the prism of human rights and a violence against women framework, this ambivalence and some of the difficulties encountered in trying to legislate on the issue would be surmounted, but that is not the case.
Many countries have legalised prostitution. Others deal with the issue through public order regulations, immigration policies and so on, leading to an array of approaches which ultimately criminalise the victim but do not lead to a reduction in the demand for their services or, consequently, the scope for profiteering. The international literature suggests that those countries that legalise prostitution have created a context which is conducive to trafficking as it expands the market. The removal of legal constraints leads to greater tolerance and desensitises the public to the abuses involved. In turn, this leads to greater demand. and creates a safe haven for criminals who can operate with impunity under the cover of legitimacy.
In Australia, in the state of Victoria, it was found, contrary to expectations, that legalisation resulted in a great increase in unlicensed brothels. In Sweden, however, where legislation on prostitution has been drafted within a human rights framework, criminalising the buyer of sexual services and treating the women as victims of violence, the domestic market for prostitution has significantly reduced, as has the market for trafficked women. The Swedish Government has stated that international trafficking in human beings could not flourish but for the existence of local prostitution markets where men are willing and able to buy and sell women and children for sexual exploitation. Ruhama proposes that Ireland should look closely at the Swedish model in drafting the legislation.
What is Ruhama seeking in the new legislation? First, clear definitions on what is meant by sexual exploitation in order to remove the ambiguities which, to date, have been obstacles to victim identification. Definitions must address the dichotomy of prostitution and trafficking and also the confusion between trafficking and smuggling. Definitions must also address the forced and free choice debate by unequivocally accepting that trafficking and prostitution are at their core violence against the person and violence with a distinctly gendered bias and/or a breach of human rights. Defining trafficking solely as a problem of criminal justice or an illegal immigrant issue, though it does concern both, focuses only on one side of the equation and tends to lead to legislation that highlights illegal entry, undocumented migration, law and order issues and tends to respond to trafficking as if it were in some way a victimless crime.
These approaches serve the needs of the State and other interests but not those of victims. The UN protocol and the Council of Europe declarations on trafficking offer a consensus definition of trafficking in human beings and a framework for domestic legislation. Both have pros and cons, but the provisions include human rights protection for the victims that are set down as international obligations and not as privileges that governments can grant or withhold.
Other specifics that we would like included arise from our direct experience of working with women. We highlight means of providing protection and assistance to victims, for example, a temporary residency or a reflection period of six months to be given to the victim to remain in the country, a time in which she can begin to deal with the trauma involved and reflect on her options. We feel the burden of proof must not be placed on the woman, who should not, as is the case in some countries, be coerced into testifying. After all we may not be able to protect her and certainly not her family in her country of origin. The law should not revictimise her in the process. We are seeking a co-ordinated, multidisciplinary response to the needs of the victim. This would incorporate the Garda Síochána, health services and NGOs. We are also seeking access for specialist agencies such as Ruhama to meet trafficked women in direct provision. We are denied such access at present. We are also seeking adequate resources for gardaí to tackle the problem, a recognition of the sustained investigations and surveillance that are needed to detect and bring sustainable charges through the criminal process and training for the Garda Síochána, customs officials and society at large.
We need to significantly raise the level of personal risk involved for criminals in bringing persons into the country by means of threat, force or deception. The only way to do this is to introduce strict punitive measures that reflect the gravity of the crime. We would look at the Criminal Assets Bureau and propose that penalties and seized assets be used to assist victims. After all, it is the women who created the wealth for the criminals in the first instance.
Other issues are provision for adequate resources to service providers to meet the needs of the victims, which include protection, housing, health care, counselling and so on, irrespective of whether the victim collaborates in the investigation process as well as a voluntary return and reintegration process. We feel that a serious approach to resettlement, linking closely with specialised agencies within the country of origin, is required to ensure the safe repatriation of victims, recognising that, unlike the arms and drug trades — the only two industries currently more lucrative than the trade in human beings — victims can be recycled back into the sex industry countless times. I focused on the protection and assistance to victims while in Ireland but long-term action is also needed if efforts to put an end to trafficking are to be effective.
We need to recognise that trafficking is primarily a flow of people from poor to rich countries. There is a need for a concerted multilateral effort aimed at reducing the supply side in the equation. There is a need to address the harm caused by the prostitution market to communities associated with on-street prostitution and to the individuals involved, regardless of whether they have crossed international borders. We absolutely need a public awareness campaign to alert the public to the issue and sensitise people, particularly young men to the abuses involved. There is a very real lack of data on the numbers of people being brought here, the routes they take and whether Ireland is a transit or a destination country and whether the Border with Northern Ireland is used in any significant way in this process. Given the invisibility and covert nature of this crime, we need to make a concerted effort to get at the truth and establish the scope of the problem. This is one reality we must seek — it does not stare us in the face every day but remains invisible and that works for the criminals involved. Ruhama proposes that Ireland should develop a national action plan in respect of fighting human trafficking. All aspects such as prevention, protection, repatriation, reintegration of victims, data analysis and so on could be dealt with under this plan. It could also provide a mechanism through which we could co-ordinate our responses and establish formal working relationships with international fora, particularly relevant bodies throughout Europe, in order to combat this essentially transnational crime.
