It also tells of a worker who was paid just €1 an hour and a child who was threatened while living in adult accommodation.
The Trafficking in Human Beings in Ireland Report outlines a significant increase in the number of victims identified over the past three years, including children. Most are trafficked for sexual exploitation.
Overall, 53 people were identified as victims of trafficking last year, a 20pc increase on 2022. The number of victims is believed to be significantly underestimated. Most came from Africa, Europe and Asia.
In the report, an African national called Ada (39) recalled how she was offered a new life working in Ireland “following an accident and the loss of her fiance in Africa”. She was confined against her will and subjected to sexual exploitation for a year.
“She experienced horrific abuse and rape by men, including men who were hooded,” said the report by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC).
After escaping her traffickers in 2018, Ada slept rough, was offered money by a stranger and got a bus to Dublin, where she secured work as an au pair before losing her job and becoming homeless again.
While seeking medical treatment in a hospital, she became aware of the concept of human trafficking. She was assisted by the Ruhama organisation and made a report to gardaí.
Her formal statement appointment was cancelled due to a garda emergency. She is still waiting. An Garda Síochána was contacted for comment.
“Ada endured five years with no supports, security or safety in Ireland since escaping traffickers,” the report states.
Four girls and one boy were identified as child victims of human trafficking in Ireland last year. Three of the girls were suspected victims of trafficking for criminal activities, one girl was trafficked for sexual exploitation and a boy for labour exploitation.
The report raises serious concerns about children in state care who are missing or housed in adult centres. There is also alarm over the exploitation of surrogacy, described as “one of the most concerning, novel and emerging forms of trafficking”.
It said an increase in child trafficking for criminal activities appears to be a new trend.
A boy said he struggled in an adult accommodation centre as ‘everybody is bigger than me’ and he had no friends
The report also said a child who was placed in adult accommodation had been sleeping on the streets for 12 nights before getting medical attention.
One girl said she found it hard to look after herself in accommodation for adult women and did not feel safe. It says: “She reports that people are drinking in the accommodation, she finds it intimidating.”
She went there alone, was feeling down and missed her siblings and mother.
“I do not feel safe there. When I am in pain or sick there is no one there to help me,” she is quoted as saying. “Other residents took my money – they threatened me.”
A boy said he struggled in an adult accommodation centre as “everybody is bigger than me” and he had no friends.
A GP at medical charity Safetynet said the boy’s physical appearance was consistent with a 15-year-old.
“We contacted Tusla, who informed us that if he is in adult accommodation he was ‘deemed an adult’ by the state,” the report said.
The commission said it is “very concerned” that there are cases where “age-disputed” children are being accommodated in adult accommodation.
The report recommends that the Health Information and Quality Authority carries out an urgent audit of all state care residential centres to assess the risk of exploitation and human trafficking.
Children represent 8pc of all victims of trafficking in Ireland in the last 11 years – 44 children out of 566 victims. Although this is fewer than the EU average, it does not mean we have fewer child victims, the report says: “Rather, we believe this is due to the fact that we do not have robust enough systems to identify child trafficking victims.”
The IHREC wants victims of trafficking to be given protection from prosecution under new legislation being prepared by Justice Minister Helen McEntee.
It wants a child-specific identification process and age-estimate process included in new operational guidelines.
The report describes how a mother of two named Kiera, who was in an abusive relationship, was offered an opportunity by someone she knew to work in a food-processing plant.
Her alleged trafficker paid her wages after receiving her salary from her employer. She was told she could not leave until she repaid her travel debt or her family would be targeted.
Her wages worked out at around €1 an hour, as the rest was held by her alleged trafficker.
