National charity Ruhama supported 75 per cent more women impacted by prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation last year than in the previous year and saw a 35 per cent increase in new victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.
The new data is contained in the organisation’s latest annual report for 2024* launched today (09.10.25) at an international conference hosted in Dublin by Ruhama on the role technology plays in facilitating ─ but also counteracting ─ pornography, sexual violence and sexual exploitation, with male leadership and the importance of ending demand other key themes.
The report outlines that 1,128 people accessed Ruhama’s services in 2024, representing a 75 per cent rise on the previous year. Of this number, 216 were victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, a 35 per cent increase in new victims on the previous year.
The high-level conference of leaders heard that Ruhama is seeking the Government’s support for measures to ensure adequate gender-specific specialist accommodation for victims of human trafficking; training for all frontline workers on sexual violence and exploitation; and the inclusion of the lived experience of survivors in all service development, public awareness work and policy and legislation change.
Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan, a keynote speaker at the conference, said: “It is important to raise awareness about the abhorrent reality of sexual exploitation in our society and the impact that it is having on countless women and girls every day. Sexual exploitation is a form of gender-based violence and we are increasingly cognisant of the role that technology has in facilitating this sexual violence and sexual exploitation. It is something that we must combat as a government and as a society with individual responsibility playing a significant role. My message is zero tolerance for sexual and gender-based violence in all its forms.”
Barbara Condon CEO, Ruhama, said: “The staggering 75 per cent rise last year in the number of individuals who engaged in Ruhama activities, demonstrates, if there were ever any doubt, the profound need for the supports we offer, and for the growth and expansion of our service delivery across the country for individuals in most need of our help, including those further away from larger urban centres. The women we work with have experienced horrendous violence, and need and deserve holistic, specialist, wraparound supports. Today’s conference is about sharing knowledge and best practices, and working collaboratively to develop strategies that protect and empower those most impacted. Importantly, it’s an opportunity to have a conversation that cannot wait ─ about how technology is reshaping the landscape of these issues, bringing both new challenges and opportunities.”
Addressing today’s conference, Mia de Faoite, a survivor of commercial sexual exploitation, said: “The online pimping websites are the modern-day slave market; that’s where women and girls are being sold from, and where men go to buy them. Targeting these sites should be a priority. The pimps that run these websites make millions and all of that money comes from the pockets of the ordinary Joe types, willing to buy them on a daily basis. It’s a supermarket of the vulnerable for these men. You couldn’t look at any of these women and think life had been good and something hadn’t gone seriously wrong. There’s always a coercive element and that element is not always visible. It is now 2025 and we should not be tolerating this behaviour any longer.”
About Ruhama’s International Conference
Ruhama’s international conference brought together survivors, activists, academics, politicians, policymakers, civil society leaders, tech experts and public service providers in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in Dublin today (09.10.25) to explore the theme ‘Technology Friend or Foe? An International Conversation on Combatting Pornography, Sexual Violence and Sexual Exploitation’.
The keynote speakers were Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD; Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan TD; Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly; Laura Bates, UK-based campaigner, author and founder of the Everyday Sexism Project; and Colin Regan, GAA Community and Health Manager.
A key aim of the conference is to engage more non-traditional actors ─ including men and representatives of the technology industry ─ in the fight against sexual exploitation.
Topics addressed included:
- How to combat technology-facilitated domestic, sexual and gender-based violence which has become a powerful means of coercion by perpetrators allowing significant reach beyond the boundary of the home.
- Moving men from passive support to active intervention, especially in digital settings.
- How AI is contributing to image-based abuse, deepfake porn, and online grooming.
- Ethical responsibilities of developers, tech companies and governments in preventing the misuse of technology for sexual harm.
- The role that mainstream pornography platforms and algorithms play in perpetuating or normalising exploitative practices.
- The importance of legislation for new offences, such as non-fatal strangulation and non-fatal suffocation, for prevention.
- Ways in which the financial services sector is collaborating to support the identification and prosecution of trafficking and sexual exploitation criminals.
*Ruhama’s 2024 Annual Report is available to read here.
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