Gerardine Rowley of Ruhama, continuing to highlight the human trafficking, suffering and criminality of the sex trade in Ireland.

Recession has forced Irish woman ‘back on the game’

Prostitution is rampant in rural Ireland and it’s getting worse. That’s the stark message this week from support group Ruhama who contend that pimps and criminals behind the sordid business are getting harder to track down due their use of technology. Trafficking of foreign women for the sex industry is now endemic throughout the country they claim, while shockingly Irish women are being forced back on the game, due to the recession.

Ruhama, which this year marked its 20^th anniversary in caring for those caught up in the sex trade,  says that prostitution is going on under people’s noses in virtually every town in the country. They claim it often invisible in neighbourhoods as it is promoted on the internet making it difficult to detect by a poorly resourced Garda force.

“People would be shocked if they really knew what is happening on their own doorstep. This is not just in the cities but towns across the country like Monaghan, Drogheda, Sligo, Athlone, Portlaoise, Carlow, Mullingar, Kilkenny and even smaller towns. You have to remember that criminals drive the sex trade and it has spread throughout the country just as drugs have,” asserts Ruhama spokesperson Gerardine Rowley.

The Sunday Independent can reveal that a trial which is due to open in Cardiff on January 11^th will expose the seedy underworld of prostitution in the provinces. A suspected Irish vice boss and his associates will come before the courts in Wales on a variety of charges relating to prostitution and the case is expected to give a unique insight into the violence and criminality associated with the operation of brothels right across small town Ireland. “Evidence from witnesses in this trial will explode the myth that any of this is harmless and will put the spotlight on the more sordid and sinister side of the sex trade here, human trafficking and the ruthlessness used to strong arm both call girls and competitors alike in Irish towns where most people are going around oblivious to what’s going on. Make no mistake about it, it’s a dangerous business and this outfit are up to their neck in running prostitution right across the midlands and elsewhere,” outlined one well placed source.

Gerardine Rowley agrees that while prostitution has spread at an unprecedented scale over the past decade, it is much more difficult to capture and convict the crime bosses behind it. The street corner and kerb crawling through well known ‘red light’ districts is mostly a thing of the past. It has been replaced by the internet and the flexibility of the mobile phone.

“It is very complex and under the radar. The heavy hand of the pimp no longer has to be physically present but they are running the show from a distance. We need a wake-up call. Men willing to pay for sex are fuelling it in small towns and the images on the glamorous posters with the fish-net tights hide the real trauma and horrendous situations we encounter. Many of the women we help have been deceived and forced into prostitution. Even though it might not appear that way they are held captive and in fear, held indoors they only people they meet are their pimps and their punters. A lot of men and even some Garda seem to hold the view, ’sure, what harm, it’s a bit of innocent fun, aren’t they making a lot money?  But that’s ignorance and naivety and that’s why we need a National Vice Squad which we’ve been calling on for years, with well trained officers, who know what they’re looking for in a focussed and effective fashion. At present there are only two officers based in Dublin and that’s totally inadequate,” insists the Ruhama spokeswoman.

“You would wonder at times if people want to look for this crime. You don’t have to be a detective to  realise what is being advertised on the escort websites and even the adverts for many of the Chinese Massage Parlours offering ‘full body massage’ in the mainstream media and Buy & Sell are fronts for selling sexual services. The lap dancing clubs too are linked to prostitution. Very often the women we deal with are in debt bondage, fear for their families back home and are even under the influence of ritual voodoo oaths. But we turn a blind eye as the women being exploited are not white, not middle class, not me, not my daughter, they’re nobodies,” is the prevailing attitude maintains the Ruhama spokeswoman.

Gerardine Rowley is furious when she hears the term ‘happy hooker’ and how much money they are making.

“This upsets me and is a totally wrong characterisation of what is usually organised crime. Can someone explain to me how a woman can arrive here, barely able to speak English and within 24 hours be set up in an expensive apartment in Dublin 4 with a new mobile phone, that’s not a happy coincidence, these women are being trafficked and we’re turning a blind eye to it with only two officers based in Store Street charged with dealing with this lucrative criminal trade. We have to get rid of the idea of the ‘happy hooker’, that’s a myth. These are real people who are being abused and men who pay for sex should really hear what these women have to say about them and really think about them, there is nothing harmless about it. Lives are being ruined and these women may be compliant out of coercion but they are not consenting and we have got to stop kidding ourselves,” insists the Ruhama spokesperson.

Fine Gael spokesman, Denis Naughton is in agreement.

“It’s well over a year since the introduction of human trafficking legislation, yet the Government has failed to establish adequate protections and secure accommodation for these victims and to ensure prosecutions against traffickers occur. One hundred and fifty-one investigations have been undertaken by the Gardaí in the last 18 months into alleged trafficking but there have been no prosecutions to date. 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.

“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, the new law for the UK will bring a provision of direct liability into force - ignorance to the fact an individual was sex trafficked will not be defensible in court. Men who know they are paying for sex with a trafficked woman may face a rape charge in court.”

And in the latest worrying development Ruhama have detected a pronounced increase in street based prostitution in the bigger cities over the past year.

Says Gerardine Rowley: “We have noticed a big increase in street based prostitution in recent months as people struggle with bills and are forced back onto the street. They tell us, ‘it’s not easy money, but it’s quick money.’ We try to support them and direct them away from this high risk and violent life to MABBS and Vincent de Paul. These are ordinary women who can’t pay their household bills and we are aware that there are those who turn to prostitution coming up to Christmas, First Communions and back-to-school, all these times.”