Flanagan launches revamped human trafficking website

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has launched a revamped website highlighting the crime of human trafficking in Ireland.

The new blueblindfold.gov.ie site provides a user-friendly overview of how the crime manifests in Ireland, how members of the public can spot and report the signs of trafficking, and how the State supports these victims once identified.

Mr Flanagan said: “A key element in the fight against human trafficking is an informed society, who are aware that exploitation, tantamount to slavery, continues to happen today in Ireland. Our revamped ‘Blue Blindfold’ website seeks to further educate the public on what human trafficking is and how it occurs in Ireland.

“Human trafficking is driven by the principles of supply and demand. Public demand for cheap labour and sexual services creates the space in which criminal gangs thrive. Such gangs use deception to force vulnerable people into prostitution and, increasingly, into everyday employment sectors such as pop-up car washes, nail salons, domestic households and the agri-food sector. It is in these areas that the public may unwittingly encounter a victim of human trafficking.”

He added: “Our redesigned website seeks to better inform the public on how to identify the signs of potential trafficking and how to report these concerns to An Garda Síochána.”