Fine Gael to stamp out human trafficking

[thehighwayman]

I found this on the FG website.

"FG to stamp out human trafficking

Illegal sex industry worth €180M a year as 1,000 men a day ‘buy sex’

Fine Gael Immigration & Integration Spokesman, Denis Naughten TD will tonight (Tuesday) bring forward a Private Members’ Motion (see text at end) to address the current weaknesses in the approach to trafficking which is facilitating the development of slave trade into and through this country.

“Ireland is a haven for the sex and slave trade.

“The illegal sex industry here is worth €180 million a year with over 1,000 men paying for sex every day. Human trafficking is the fuel that keeps prostitution on the road as evidenced by the fact that 97% of the 1,000 women involved in indoor prostitution are migrants and that 90% of potential human trafficking victims are being investigated on the basis of sexual exploitation, some involving minors.

“The FF Government’s attempts to tackling sex trafficking have been, at best, piecemeal and insufficient. We must now put a comprehensive strategy in place to deal with the proliferation of sex trafficking into Ireland.

“Fine Gael wants to stamp out human trafficking and our Dáil Motion will address this by:

• Moving the focus on human trafficking from Garda National Immigration Bureau to the Garda Organised Crime Unit;
• Ending the policy of placing victims of human trafficking in asylum centres and introducing independent accommodation, support and protection services. NGOs believe that in some instances traffickers are targeting asylum seekers hostels and identifying women and young girls who they attempt to lure into a life of prostitution;
• Extending the ‘period of recovery and reflection’ as defined in the Immigration, Residency and Protection Bill 2008 now before Dáil Éireann;
• Extending the remit of the Department of Justice’s Anti-Human Trafficking Unit to include migrant women in prostitution;
• Establishing a High Level Group to examine our prostitution laws with a view to preventing the proliferation of sex trafficking.

“It’s time that Ireland hit the demand end of this multi-million euro illegal industry. Our law currently provides for a defence in court to prove that they did not know that the person was trafficked. However, a new law for the UK will bring a provision of direct liability into force meaning that ignorance to the fact an individual was sex trafficked will not be defensible in court. The net effect of the UK law will be to push illegal traffickers south of the border to the Republic where our laws are not nearly as restrictive. As our European colleagues tighten their prostitution laws, so too must Ireland.

“The reality is that unless we adopt a decisive and practical approach to protection and support systems, victims will not come forward to Garda authorities. This is fundamental to securing convictions against those directly involved in this trade, and objective which every political party supports.

“The Fine Gael Motion will send out a clear message that Ireland is not a soft touch for traffickers and I urge Fianna Fáil and the Greens to back Fine Gael on this vital issue.”

Ends


Fine Gael Private Members Motion – Human Trafficking

That Dáil Éireann:

Notes with alarm that:
• A minimum of 102 women and girls have been clearly identified in a recent report as sex trafficked in 2007 and 2008, 11 of whom were children when they arrived in Ireland and that none of these women knew they were destined for the Irish sex trade;
• Up to 97% of the 1,000 women involved in indoor prostitution in Ireland at any given time are migrant women;
• Victims of trafficking are identified by this government as illegal immigrants first and consequently imprisoned and identified as victims second;
• This Government offers no independent accommodation or support services to victims of trafficking;

Considering that:
• Several European countries have successfully tackled human trafficking and forced prostitution by the introduction of legislation criminalising the buying of sex;
• The UK is introducing legislation to reduce prostitution and human trafficking which will directly impact on the Republic of Ireland;

Calls on the Government to:
• End the policy of placing victims of human trafficking in asylum centres and introduce independent accommodation, support and protection services;
• Extend the “period of recovery and reflection” as defined in the Immigration, Residency and Protection Bill 2008 now before Dáil Éireann;
• Move the focus on human trafficking from Garda National Immigration Bureau to the Garda Organised Crime Unit;
• Extend the remit of the Department of Justice’s Anti-Human Trafficking Unit to include migrant women in prostitution;
• Establish a High Level Group to examine our prostitution laws with a view to preventing the proliferation of sex trafficking.

- Denis Naughten TD, Enda Kenny TD and members of the Fine Gael Party."