Irish child, 6, victim of trafficking in Munster event at Cork Sexual Violence centre hears

A six-year-old Irish child was the victim of child trafficking in Munster recently, a public event to mark World Day Against Trafficking in Persons heard this week in Cork.

The event was held in the Sexual Violence Centre Cork, and was officially launched by the Lord Mayor of Cork.

One of the speakers was JP O’Sullivan, communications manager of Mecpaths, the only non-profit in the Republic of Ireland which aims to prevent the trafficking of children.

Mr O’Sullivan said child trafficking remained one of the most hidden crimes in Ireland, and involved children from across communities.

“There can be a confusion or a conflation at times that we’re talking about children being brought in from other countries into Ireland, but under domestic legislation, what we’re seeing is it can affect Irish national children, and it does affect Irish national children,” he said.

“The youngest child that we have come across, in our own communities, in a rural part of Munster, was a six-year-old used by their own parents to run heroin, and [suffered] all the types of exploitation that go with that.” 

Mr O’Sullivan said that child was not formally identified by the State as being a victim of child trafficking, but he said all the elements of harm and exploitation associated with trafficking were present.

Mary Crilly, founder of the Sexual Violence Centre, said the centre had, for several years hosted Cork Against Human Trafficking, highlighting different forms of human trafficking.

“This year, the theme on World Trafficking Day is ‘no child left behind’, now we can see that every child victim of trafficking is left behind,” Ms Crilly said.

“The United Nations research shows that of all the victims of trafficking, one in three are children. One in three."

The Lord Mayor of Cork, Green Party councillor Dan Boyle, said human trafficking was an uncomfortable subject, but one that needed to be addressed.

“We have to put resources aside to make sure that those who are effected by it can be rescued and brought back into wider society, and I think this event is an important part of that process,” he said.