Specialised training for care workers and gardaí is needed to deal with gangs of men who are grooming teenage girls in State care for sexual exploitation, according to the co-author of a report on the subject.
The study, based on interviews with Tusla care workers, was carried out by the University College Dublin (UCD) School of Social Policy last year.
The researchers called for an “immediate investigation” into the sexual exploitation by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).
Dr Mary Canning, co-author of the study, told BreakingNews.ie that the "highly sophisticated" exploitation included groups of men grooming victims and taking them to hotels and apartments where they are sexually abused by other men.
The "harrowing and disturbing" findings came after the investigation were not wholly surprising "because we knew it was going on internationally and there's nothing to say Ireland is different to other countries".
She explained that previous studies into the adult sex trade saw "women telling us they had been exploited from a young age".
Dr Canning said social workers are "doing their utmost" to stop it happening but facing numerous obstacles.
"A number of them don't actually believe they are being exploited, so they think, because they have been groomed and it is so sophisticated, that they are in a 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' type relationship.
"They are being taken away and encouraged to leave their care homes, with their so-called boyfriend, or he organises for a taxi to pick them up. They are taken to hotels or apartments and there are other men there and because they are in this 'relationship', they believe for his affection they have to perform sex for other men, so what's happening is they are being sexually assaulted and raped."
She added: "They are coming back to the care homes with money, jewellery, mobile phones, in a very distressed state often after being given drugs and alcohol.
"However, they are not able to talk to the care workers about this because like any case of sexual abuse you have to be in a very trusting relationship to discuss it and to be able to find the words you want. Staff are changing all the time, and it is very difficult to build up that trusting relationship, care staff are also trying to balance their relationship with the child to recognise they are not realising they are being exploited.
"They are trying to keep the child with them, without calling it abuse and waiting for them to be able to disclose it when they are ready. So it's a very difficult situation, so complex and so hidden.
"In the literature, children in residential care are one of the high risk groups for sexual exploitation. Peeling that back what it says is what has caused them to end up in residential care? These are normally traumatic situations in their lives, be it family relationships that have broken down, addiction, child abuse, they may have faced homelessness."
Dr Canning said the groups of men "know what they're doing, targeting these children and their vulnerabilities".
"When you put that targeting with children who are very vulnerable and are coming with that history, without adequate protections this sexual exploitation occurs.
"What we're calling for in our research is protecting against these predators, we're calling for safeguards and measures to be put in place."
Interviews
Since 2021, Tusla have developed a child sexual exploitation procedure with An Garda Síochána. The interviews with care workers, which were conducted between February and May 2022, saw many express the opinion that these procedures "were not bedded down enough".
Dr Canning said some staff members were not aware of the procedures, or in other cases not implementing them sufficiently.
"We called for more training around those procedures. Tusla are engaging with that in their own centres, but we're calling for training care staff in all centres because Tusla operated 40 of 177 centres. We want training of staff in all the private centres as well. They're caring for children too and need the same training."
The Garda National Protective Services Bureau currently deals with complex cases of sexual crime and child abuse.
Dr Canning said more resources and training are needed for frontline gardaí to deal with the cases of exploitation of teenagers in State care.
"We are calling for training of gardaí on the street, the first responders, so that they can see what is going on and ask the right questions, in particular around children who go missing. Their duty does not finish when they return the child to the care home.
"There can be a lack of knowledge around the complexity of sexual exploitation, we were told some gardaí felt the children were to blame or that they were problematic children.
"Some of the care workers we spoke to said some gardaí were tired of coming to the residential care homes because another child had gone missing. We would put that down to a lack of understanding of what sexual exploitation is and the complexities of what has gone on with these children in the first instance, if all gardaí had that understanding we think that would really help combat sexual exploitation.
"The age of sexual consent is 17 so with anyone below that age it is statutory rape. The understanding of sexual exploitation has to be there, and that these are children, and they are never to blame, the blame rests only and solely with the predators."
Surely as a country we can stand up and protect these children who are our most vulnerable.
Dr Canning also said the research found a societal reluctance to acknowledge the severity of what is happening was another issue.
"As a society we tend to shy away from things, and a discomfort with naming rape as rape, and naming sexual assault as sexual assault.
"We have so much evidence of the silence that has occurred in Ireland in our past. In particular with children people just want to look away because they are so uncomfortable in thinking this can happen to children in our country. That's a huge issue I think.
"It's not just a problem with social care, it's an issue with society and that came out in our study, there is that discomfort."
Dr Canning said there had been positive engagement with both Tusla and the Garda National Protective Services Bureau since early on in the research.
"When we come to social care, in training we have to be comfortable being able to see what is going on, and use the correct language because language is really important and to name it for what it is, give voice to it, and listen to the children and help them with calling it what it is. I think we have an awful lot of work to do in that area. That sense of discomfort from the professionals for them to even call it sexual assault and rape... for us that was surprising. We are calling for more education around language.
"When we think about children who are being cared for, the majority are being cared for in foster homes and there's a very small percentage in residential care. Surely as a country we can stand up and protect these children who are our most vulnerable, and we should be able to do that. I hope it continues to get the attention it deserves until every child is safe."
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help.
