Trafficked women can spend their life recovering from mental trauma, says campaigner

Irish Times

a day ago

Women trafficked for sexual exploitation can spend their lives trying to deal with the mental trauma of what they have endured, a campaigner against sexual violence has revealed.
Barbara Condon, the chief executive of
Ruhama,
said that human trafficking for sex has been described as 'the worst example of what one human being can do to another human being.'
Speaking at the official launch of Ruhama's Cork-Kerry support service, Ms Condon revealed that the service, which has been operational since April 2024, has helped support some 80 women who were the victims of sexual exploitation in the southwest.
She explained that Ruhama, which supports women impacted by prostitution and human trafficking, works with 'a hidden cohort of women, often ignored, overlooked and marginalised, trafficked women who are highly transient with no addresses, no bank accounts who are subjected to sexual violence in every town and city across Ireland.'
She said that human trafficking and sexual exploitation brings with it complex trauma, not just physical but also mental with many victims developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which can often lead to addiction, homelessness and further exploitation.
'But the biggest thing probably that the women face is the stigma and the discrimination and the shame,' she said. 'Nobody should be stigmatised because they've been sexually assaulted or sexually violated – recovery from sexual violence and sexual exploitation is lifelong because of what they've endured.'
Ms Condon said that there was 'a huge silence around sexual exploitation' which made it difficult for people to speak about it, but Ruhama helped through talking and listening to the victims of such exploitation, but society needs to step up more to address the problem and the stigma.
'And the shame, the shame is what keeps women stuck long after they've exited and the shame really comes from most of depraved and degrading acts that nobody in this room can actually imagine unless they've been through and it really is unbelievable.'
Ms Condon said that one the findings of a new study commissioned by Ruhama entitled Room for Recovery – Housing Hope After Exploitation was that accommodation was an essential part of the set of assistance measures necessary for victims of trafficking if they are to recover.
'Both the National Action Plan on Trafficking and the Third National Strategy for Domestic Sexual and Gender Based Violence are crystal clear on the crucial importance of gender-specific specialist accommodation for victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation,' she said.
'The continued accommodation of these victims-survivors with their particular vulnerabilities among the general asylum reception and the general International Protection Accommodation Service is inhumane and untenable.'
One survivor of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the new Cork-Kerry service will offer not just support and safety but also compassion and hope for those who have endured great trauma from what they have been through.
'I carried enormous shame especially after discovering there was footage of my abuse – videos taken without consent, passed around like I was an object- that kind of violation leaves scars deeper than words,' she said.
'It makes you question if you are even human any more – I wanted to disappear – the new Ruhama Cork-Kerry service will be a place where trauma is named, shame is lifted and women come home to themselves.'
Taoiseach
Michéal Martin
paid tribute to Ruhama for the work that the organisation is doing and he said the opening of the Cork-Kerry service was a vital step towards providing vital support and to 'some of the most vulnerable women in appalling circumstances' so they can rebuild their lives.
'The services delivered by Ruhama in this sector and on the frontline with victims are essential as we move forward with the Government's National Action Plan on Trafficking and our zero tolerance strategy for tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence,' he said.