Justice department pushes for sexual offences legislation reform ahead of summer recess
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Reforming legislation for sexual offences and human trafficking has to be enacted before the Dáil’s summer recess because “certain provisions in the bill are particularly urgent and currently subject to litigation”, according to the Department of Justice.
The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023 was unveiled in 2022, receiving Cabinet approval last July. The aim of the bill is to strengthen the law around sexual offences and improve protection for victims.
It is also set to introduce reform of the national referrals mechanism for victims of human trafficking.
The sole agency which can currently identify victims of human trafficking is An Garda Síochána, but this will change under the new legislation — allowing other relevant departments and agencies to be designated as "competent authorities" to identify victims.
This issue was highlighted in submissions made to the Department of Justice regarding the legislation before it was published almost a year ago.
Anti-sexual exploitation NGO Ruhama’s Danielle McLaughlin said the legislation is required urgently “in terms of reform of the national referral mechanism, which is included in the bill”.
She said it is a very important part of the reform for identifying victims of trafficking and enables them to access the supports required, “because the current system is inadequate in how victims are identified and the process they have to go through”.
She pointed out that victims are currently required to cooperate with a Garda investigation into their traffickers.
She said: “We are currently identifying more victims of trafficking in our service who are choosing not to be referred to the NRM [National Referral Mechanism] because of that fear.
JP O'Sullivan of anti-child trafficking organisation Mercy Efforts for Child Protection Against Trafficking with the Hospitality Sector [Mecpaths] said: “We encourage cross-departmental and multi-agency responses to the issue. It is not one individual agency or department’s responsibility to respond to the issue of human trafficking.”
Last November, proposals around consent — which had already been signed off by the Cabinet — were withdrawn from the legislation.
The proposals sought to change the legal test around consent, proposing that people accused of rape would have to convince a jury they took steps to get consent from their accuser.
However, that section of the legislation was removed for a number of reasons including a requirement for the provision to be thoroughly examined “in order to ensure that they are constitutionally sound", a Department of Justice spokesman said at the time.
In recent days, a department spokesman said that an amendment planned for the legislation — which would outlaw sex for rent arrangements — was still under consideration and was unlikely to be completed before the enactment of the bill.