Number of victims of ‘online pimping’ grows since first lockdown

The number of female victims of “online pimping” has returned to normal levels following a drop of 50 per cent during the first lockdown, a study has found.

The Sexual Exploitation Research Programme (SERP) at University College Dublin (UCD) has been monitoring the levels of women being advertised for sex online, which is now back to about 650 profiles per week.

It notes that women from Latin America, apparently trapped in Ireland because of Covid-19 restrictions, accounted for the majority of those profiled on escort sites. The companies involved, and their servers, are based overseas in order to avoid Irish law.

The findings are included in the report Exploitation as Usual, published on Wednesday.

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“We see increased risk and actual reports of violence by partner, by pimps and by buyers. Pressure is now on for money and it pushes women into making poor decisions, so safety is a real issue and always a risk,” said Linda Latham, manager of the HSE’s Women’s Health Service which maintains daily contact with affected women.

“We’ve had many issues of crisis pregnancy, issues relating to termination of pregnancy services, contraception, Mirena coil issues, sexual health symptoms and treatment of all those infections, secondly the psychological impacts…women are feeling very isolated and want to talk.”

The report documents that many women appeared to be trapped in brothels when Covid-19 restrictions commenced. As vulnerable migrants with no PPS numbers, it says, they have been unable to seek help.

Examining more than 1,300 online reviews over two weeks, the SERP found that buyers of sex showed a disregard for all health advice during the pandemic.

The research programme has called on Government to support various measures to give vulnerable women a means to escape.

Among a number of recommendations are that exiting prostitution be recognised and resourced by the State as a statutory right and that the HSE resource the Women’s Health Service to re-open safely as a matter of urgency.

It has also said action is required to effectively tackle Ireland’s online prostitution advertisers who are circumventing national legislation.

Its author Ruth Breslin said that following a sharp initial drop in trade, sex buyers, brothel owners and the websites based outside Ireland are back in business.

“The ‘escort’ websites gave a façade of protecting health, yet were offering incentives to encourage the trade to resume,” she said.

“At the same time vulnerable migrant women had little prospect of exiting the trade - even at the height of lockdown they accounted for over 90 per cent of profiles.”