Suspected human-traffic ring in Cavan

Sex-trade workers are being raped in town - Ruhama

Paul Neilan

Gardaí in Cavan are monitoring a suspected human-trafficking ring run out of an apartment block in the town.

Two weeks ago, gardaí busted an apartment brothel and a person is before the courts but arising out of that they believe that a larger human-trafficking ring has been exposed.
Neighbours of the brothel reported to gardaí that there was a large amount of “traffic” coming in and out of a particular apartment.
The Anglo-Celt understands that young, foreign women were arriving every two or three weeks to the apartment with large suitcases and being used as prostitutes.
The sex trade in provincial towns has exploded in recent years with online demand.
Gardaí say they are aware of some who are using prostitutes but cannot prosecute because the legislation is not yet in place.

Control
Ruhama spokesperson Gerardine Rowley says that Cavan people who pay for sex should be “criminalised”. In one of their last acts as a local authority, Cavan Town Council passed a motion calling for the criminalistion of those people using prostitutes.
“What’s going on in Cavan is reflective of the problem throughout Ireland. It’s women forced into the sex trade by organised criminal gangs,” says the spokesperson for the group whose mission is to support women affected by prostitution.
“The reason women are being moved around is that it increases the pimp’s control over them. They can’t make any relationships and are forced to live out of a suitcase - it’s control, it’s total control and isolation.
“But it’s consumer demand that is driving it. This usually concerns women from outside of the state but local criminal gangs are involved and you could have some demanding that the girl work for one gang over another, one area over another - the woman’s body is a total commodity.
“The Internet is used to advertise it and the legislation is from 1993 - that’s before mobile phones so we need to enforce the legislation the Justice Committee’s recommendations - there’s little political will to do that.
“If it was made a criminal offence to buy sex you would have a deterrent - once people are in the court you can name them. I don’t know if 'name and shame’ is the right phrase because it depends if you feel ashamed, but naming would be a start.

Increase
“We’ve been around for twenty-five years and we have seen a huge increase in rural Ireland, like Cavan, for example, through the role of the internet and mobile phone.
“A light needs to be shone on who is buying because there’s no deterrent as we stand.
“Regarding that site, I do not want to give them publicity, we know that people who buy sex don’t think about the person.
“There’s a site there with a review section, and in that review section there are
buyers reviewing and complaining that the woman was reluctant, that they were
crying, or that they were
only functional - it’s rape, absolutely.”