PSNI Rescue 15 Women From Belfast Brothels

Mon, 06 September 2010 Courtesy of: Guardian Unlimited

Fifteen women have been rescued from sex traffickers in a major crackdown on brothels in Northern Ireland, police have announced.

The women, who are from EU countries, were being forced to work as prostitutes in Belfast, the PSNI said. Police arrested three people in connection with the raids.

Detective Chief Superintendent Roy McComb, head of the PSNI Organised Crime Branch, said: "This is modern-day slavery where human beings are treated like commodities by sophisticated organised crime gangs who are making substantial criminal profits from the sex trade.

“This is modern-day slavery where human beings are treated like commodities”

"These gangs have no thought for the health and well-being of their victims. They see them simply as instruments to help them generate cash."

McComb added: "Human trafficking and prostitution is no longer gender specific. Men and women are being tricked or forced into prostitution in major towns and cities. They are being robbed of their liberty, stripped of their dignity, and suffer intolerable conditions as unwilling emblems of the sex trade."

Patrick Yu, executive director of the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities, said the discovery was welcome but warned that the women needed protection.

"In most cases they don't want to testify (against their captors) because their family may be in danger at home," he said.

Patricia Lyness, a project manager at the Women's Aid Federation, said the authorities had made an effort to improve their handling of the trafficked women.