Child trafficking under-identified in Ireland - IHREC
Child trafficking remains significantly under-identified in Ireland, with the number of children formally identified as victims remaining extremely low, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has warned.
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has warned that child trafficking remains significantly under-identified in Ireland, with only 10 child victims identified in 2024 and 18 in 2025. The commission emphasizes that the primary issue is not the number of children identified as victims, but the large number of children who are being missed.
The research indicates that the nature of child exploitation is rapidly changing, with digital technologies increasingly used to groom, recruit, and control children. The commission stresses the importance of an effective National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to identify, support, and protect victims of trafficking, particularly children who are unlikely to self-identify as victims.
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