Irish Govt ‘failing’ to tackle child trafficking

The Irish Government is failing to tackle child trafficking, which has moved further underground during the pandemic making it harder to identify, according to an Irish Sister of Mercy.

Sr Patricia O’Donovan RSM, who founded the anti-human trafficking charity Mecpaths, told The Irish Catholic: “It is very disappointing. Ireland is really failing to meet the minimum standards of elimination of trafficking.”

The US annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2021, which was published earlier this month, stated that Ireland has continued to maintain inadequate victim protection efforts.

Sr O’Donovan said: “The [TIP] report clearly states that ‘Traffickers subject Irish children to sex trafficking within the country’ which demonstrates the increased need for awareness training and victim identification, especially for child victims in this country.

“Mecpaths exists in order to raise awareness of the presence of human trafficking in Ireland, especially the trafficking of children for exploitation, to educate around the signs that may indicate a child is or has been trafficked and to know the mechanisms available to report a concern or case of child trafficking.”

Ireland has not demonstrated an overall increase in efforts “even considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity”, regarding victim identification, the TIPs report stated.

Sr O’Donovan said: “Definitely 2020 has been a time of heightened vulnerability and children definitely are being trafficked. Child trafficking is happening, it is difficult to identify under normal times, much more so now during the pandemic.”

According to Mecpaths, traffickers can take advantage of the privacy and anonymity that hotels and accommodation providers offer, using these unwitting venues to sexually exploit children. Within the services sectors, many companies who provide products and services are uniquely placed to engage and interact with children and young persons who may be at-risk of being trafficked.

Training people in this sector is “crucial” when it comes to identifying child trafficking, Sr O’Donovan said.

“It is one of the most horrendous crimes in the world and it’s right across the whole world: I think particularly child trafficking, when you think of the vulnerability of a child.”

Sr O’Donovan and Sr Mary Ryan established Mecpaths in 2013 after attending a UN conference focusing on violence against women and girls.

On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, July 30, Mecpaths will launch an online e-learning platform for the various industries they work with, as well as for the general public.

Read more here – ‘Ireland failing to eliminate child trafficking’