Ireland: Human trafficking was "modern-day slavery", British minister of state for constitutional affairs Harriet Harman said in Dublin yesterday.
Young women were being trafficked and sold for sex "right across Europe" and the only effective way to tackle the problem was by European countries working together.
In a talk at the Institute of European Affairs, Ms Harman, formerly British solicitor general, explained how this form of criminal activity was carried out and how the authorities in her own country were endeavouring to deal with it.
"Typically a young woman from Moldova or Lithuania is told that she can come to London and work in a hotel, or go to Milan and work in a bar, or to Amsterdam or Paris and work as a hairdresser.
"She sets out hopefully - only to find that her papers are taken off her when she arrives by members of a gang who then rape her and force her to have sex with dozens of strangers who have paid the gang who trafficked her.
"If she tries to escape she is recaptured and brought back. Some call it prostitution - but I think that word is wholly inadequate. What it is, is modern-day slavery." Girls and young women in the countries of origin must be warned that, as well as the great opportunities in countries like Britain, Ireland, Italy or France, there were also dangers.
"They must not travel illegally or with people they know little about, or they might find themselves the victims of the worst of crimes," she said.
The UK had brought in new legislation to deal with this kind of trafficking. These were aimed against both the traffickers and against the men who rape the girls. Under these laws, "the defendant can be the trafficker or the 'punter'."
"Those who use the young women for sex are not only making victims vulnerable by providing the 'demand' side of the trafficking market - but they will in many cases themselves be committing criminal offences. Sex without consent is the offence of rape.
"We've got to ensure that the traffickers are arrested and brought before the courts."
Ms Harman told The Irish Times that traffickers used different approaches ranging from fake advertisements in the papers to lure the unwary through to kidnapping and abduction.
"Sometimes it will be girls who suspect or know they are coming for prostitution but don't realise they are going to be beaten and raped and get none of the money. So there's a big spectrum," Ms Harman said.