A THREE month consultation of the new human trafficking strategy has been launched, legislation which made paying for sex a criminal offence in the north.
Justice Minister David Ford yesterday announced a consultation on the draft strategy, which aims to set targets for enforcing the laws during 2015/16.
The consultation opened yesterday and will run until August 21.
The strategy proposes focussing on four areas - prevent, pursue, protect and partnership and recommends a number of specific actions.
These include joint PSNI/Gardai training, to be held in November, and the development of a full-time PSNI investigation team to be led by a district inspector.
Measures to support victims include publishing multi-lingual leaflets to make people aware of their rights and offering legal aid to those who have suffered human trafficking or slavery.
Mr Ford said: "Human trafficking and exploitation are abhorrent crimes which devastate the lives of victims and their families.
2Tackling these offences and the people who perpetrate them is a priority for me and for my department."
According to the consultation report, just three convictions have been secured through the courts to date in relation to human trafficking offences, although the PSNI notes that there have been other convictions for related charges such as brothel keeping.
Of the victims uncovered in the north since 2013, the highest percentage came from Romania or China, figures from the strategy show.
In a statement, the Department of Justice said it was particularly keen to canvass the views of organisations or agencies involved in work tackling human trafficking or assisting victims.
