Sex for sale in Cavan

While prostitution and human trafficking is a problem all over Ireland, there is now strong evidence that it has been prevalent in Cavan, Monaghan and Louth for a number of years. Geraldine Rowley from Ruhama, which is an Irish support group for women in prostitution, told The Anglo-Celt this week that it is a very big problem in this region. Many women have been brought into this region with the promise of a new home and a job. Sadly, they have wound up trapped and forced to work in brothels. Ruhama has helped numerous girls who have worked in prostitution in Cavan, Monaghan, Louth and Meath. One girl was making thousands of euro in a week and her pimp only gave her enough money to buy food for herself. "Unfortunately, prostitution is a reality in every county in Ireland now and most of the women are not Irish," Ms. Rowley. Most of the prostitutes are controlled by third parties, including criminals, and many of the girls in the sex trade here can only be described as "slaves". While outside pimps may be the ringleaders, they do require co-operation from locals who act as drivers and collect money and organise apartments for the girls to work in. There is always a network involving locals and the controllers can sometimes live outside the jurisdiction. Geraldine Rowley told The Anglo-Celt that the internet now plays a major role in the modern prostitution trade and it affords the opportunity for pimps and traffickers to remain quite anonymous. "They can blatantly promote and advertise prostitution. The charges and the services being offered are all available on the sites. The services on offer are also named in detail. They sometimes use the term escort but there is no doubt what is on offer because it is in your face," explained Ms. Rowley. Research into escorts in Cavan (below left) by The Anglo-Celt backed up this claim with services including erotic massage, lesbian shows and private lap dances listed on escorts' websites. Geraldine said they have worked with a significant number of women from this region, and many of the cases had been on the high end of the scale of trafficking. There is violence and control involved and they have also worked with young girls who were minors when they were trafficked. She added that unfortunately this trade would not be going on, if there were no men willing to pay for sex. Geraldine Rowley complemented Judge John F. Neilan who recently said in Edgeworthstown court that the men who pay for sex with these girls should be named and shamed. Some of the women have even been in debt to their controllers. "For instance if they come from places like South Africa, they can't afford their flights here - a flight to Ireland could equate to a yearly wage. Their flights are paid and then when they get here they have to pay back the money through prostitution. Some pimps are ruthless and have asked the women to pay up to €50,000. "They girls then have to work their way out of this imposed debt through prostitution. They may appear as willing participants in the sex trade, but the reality is, they have no other option," detailed Ms. Rowley. A number of pimps have appeared in the courts recently and it was revealed that prostitution is a highly lucrative. Both Irish and International criminals are controlling the network of prostitution in every town in Ireland. "This country is seen as a place they can make a lot of money - that is the bottom line," said Geraldine Rowley. Many of the girls they help are left with low self esteem and develop depression and they do not have a family network here. Ms. Rowley said the easiest people to arrest are the women, but they believe the exploiters should be arrested. There needs to be tougher legislation to criminalise men who pay for sex. "Sex is not cheap, so you have to ask are the consumers people who hold power in society? Is that another reason why this exploitation is not being addressed. We seem to drag our heels in this country in relation to this issue, yet we can introduce a smoking ban, because it damages people's health. I can assure from 21 years experience of working with on the front line with women in prostitution, it is hugely damaging to their health," said Geraldine Rowley. The is a new Irish film called 'Trafficked' coming to cinema screens shortly and it gives a great insight into the prostitution trade and human trafficking here, according to Ms. Rowley. The funding to Ruhama charity has been cut and they are appealing for funds to carry-on their good work.