A report by Northern Ireland’s Assembly All-Party Group on Modern Slavery and Commercial Sexual Exploitation has called for a ban on websites advertising prostitution across the UK and Ireland.
'Hidden in Plain Sight: How Websites Advertising Prostitution Facilitate Sexual Exploitation in Northern Ireland' confirmed that the platforms facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
The research stated that tighter regulation on its own will not stop traffickers from using online platforms to exploit vulnerable people.
According to RTE, the committee began its work in January, they gathered written submissions from 15 organizations, heard testimony from six key witnesses and groups, and examined data from four major prostitution advertising websites operating in Northern Ireland.
Inquiry chair, Peter Martin MLA said in his introduction to the report, according to RTE that the scale of what was found surpassed the fears of committee members.
"Websites advertising prostitution have become the shop window for a trade that makes a profit from selling people here in Northern Ireland," Martin stated.
Focusing on four platforms in Northern Ireland, the inquiry highlighted Escort Ireland the dominant website used by sex buyers across the Republic of Ireland as the largest.
Despite some platforms being reported to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), the research revealed they continued to facilitate ads for potential buyers.
To combat this exploitation, the inquiry, supported by research from the Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy Institute (SERP) concluded that a total ban is essential, urging the creation of new criminal offences to prosecute site operators and those profiting from commercial sexual exploitation.
