Two Nigerian women, residing in Mullingar, have become the first people in this jurisdiction to be convicted of human trafficking offences under the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008. Following a six-week trial, the women, aged 45 and 31, were found guilty of trafficking women for the purposes of exploitation through prostitution.
Judge Francis Comerford imposed sentences of five years and eight months, and five years and one month respectively. The offences did not relate to any act of trafficking the victims into Ireland, the judge noted, but rather the exercise of control over them once they had arrived here which he regarded as indentured slavery.
The victims were coerced into a sustained period of prostitution, resulting in great harm to their well-being, all for financial gain. The judge highlighted, as aggravating factors, the particular the nature of the coercion, the purpose of the trafficking and the damage which resulted to the victims and society as a whole.
During the trial, evidence was heard from four women who claim to have been forced into prostitution here, having undergone a voodoo ceremony back in Nigeria that left them with physical scars on their bodies and a belief that a voodoo curse was firmly placed on them. One of the women testified that she had been forced to pull the heart out of a chicken as part of the ceremony and was further required to swear that she would not try to escape or alert the authorities once she arrived in Ireland or her family would be harmed by the curse.
The witnesses stated that they had travelled to Ireland under the belief that they would be working as shop attendants and had no idea what truly lay ahead of them. The women gave evidence of being forced to work as prostitutes all over Ireland in locations such as Limerick, Cork, Galway, Castlebar, Navan, Athlone, Letterkenny, Cavan and Dundalk.
The women were told they owed the defendants sums ranging from €35,000 to €60,000 for arranging their travel to Ireland. One of the witnesses even tried to take her own life as a result of the abuse, stating in her victim impact statement “I hated the life they made me live. I tried to kill myself. I lost my pride as a woman. I felt ashamed”.
Another victim stated that she had been affected physically, mentally, financially and psychologically by her experiences in Ireland. She added: “The wounds inflicted on me will never go away.” Yet another victim, who now resides in the UK, gave evidence that as a result of the abuse she suffered at the hands of these two women she no longer feels safe in large gatherings and that she could no longer bear being touched by a man.
Evidence was submitted to the court that both of the accused women had themselves suffered traumatic, impoverished childhoods which included instances of rape and prostitution.
The pair were further convicted for a series of money laundering offences, along with the husband of one of the women who received a suspended sentence of two years and three months.