Ford publishes research paper on prostitution in Northern Ireland

Justice Minister David Ford has today published a research paper on the women involved in prostitution and human trafficking across Northern Ireland.
~ Thursday, 27 January 2011

The Department undertook to conduct the research to inform its ‘Strategy to Manage Women Offenders and Those Vulnerable to Offending Behaviour’.

A number of key findings can be drawn from the research paper:

• Prostitution occurs across Northern Ireland and is not solely an issue for Belfast
• 18 of the 29 police areas in Northern Ireland had reported incidents of prostitution over a six month period.
• In 2009/10 the PSNI identified 25 potential victims of human trafficking – with 17 who had been subject to sexual exploitation
• Prosecutions and convictions for prostitution related offences are low due to the covert nature of prostitution.

The paper identifies factors contributing to women becoming involved in prostitution, highlights the growing problem of the trafficking of women sexually exploited by criminal gangs in the sex industry, and identifies best practice in dealing with these issues.

David Ford said:  “This is a valuable piece of research which for the first time catalogues the extent of prostitution and human trafficking across Northern Ireland.

“It puts the scale of the challenge in context and while it is clear that the size of the problem in Northern Ireland is not as great as in other jurisdictions, this research allows us to look from an informed position at these issues.

“While there are a number of organisations, both statutory and voluntary, running a range of projects and initiatives that support women involved in prostitution, more must be done.

“As part of my agenda to reshape the justice system, I want to work in partnership with others to develop new thinking on how we can help bring people out of prostitution, support the victims of sexual exploitation and bring human traffickers to justice.”

Notes to editors

1. The report is available on the Department of Justice website:
2. The research was carried out to fulfil a commitment set out in “A Strategy to Manage Women Offenders and Those Vulnerable to Offending Behaviour”, which was published in October 2010 by the Department of Justice (DoJ), in partnership with the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) and the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI).
3. The strategy identifies women involved in prostitution as a potentially vulnerable group that could benefit from supportive interventions and commits to carrying out research in this area.
4. The research paper is a scoping study.  It indicates that prostitution is occurring in towns throughout Northern Ireland, though Belfast remains the main problem area.  Nonetheless, it is difficult to estimate the exact scale of prostitution in Northern Ireland because of its secretive and hidden nature.
5. All media enquiries should be directed to the Department of Justice Press Office on 028 9052 6444. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699 715440 and your call will be returned.