Foreign women are being imprisoned in homes across Northern Ireland and forced to work as sex slaves, the police warned today.
Women from Africa, Eastern Europe and the Far East have been rescued from local brothels run by international crime gangs in the last year, officers revealed.
They are among 11 victims of human trafficking that have been found in the region in 12 months.
Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris detailed the extent of the illegal sex trade at the launch of a new support service to help victims.
The officer said the brothels effectively doubled as prisons.
“They are being held in captivity,” he said.
“They live in fear of awful violence as well, we know an awful lot of violence is inflicted on them by those holding them and there’s the threat of violence either to them or even to their families back home.”
The ACC said it was not correct to call the women prostitutes.
“Prostitute is not an appropriate term because these women are being forced into this and they are just continual victims of rape. This is not about consensual sexual activity at all.”
He said officers had uncovered brothels in very unexpected locations, many of them in rural areas.
“People could have a brothel quite close to them and they should be aware of that — that there could actually be one of these brothels with women in it in the most awful circumstances operating quite close to them,” he added.
Mr Harris said while international gangs were organising the racket, many local criminals were assisting them.
PA