Stella s speaking up for women s rights - Celebrating Offaly s Inspiring Women #IWD2021
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Stella O Malley is one of Ireland s leading voices on what s influencing people s behaviour in Ireland today. Making it her life s work to help people to live a life of their own choosing instead of letting life happen to them, she has become a successful psychotherapist, best-selling author and public speaker.
Stella was born in Dublin but now calls Birr home where she lives with her husband and two children and runs her private practice. It was much of her counselling and teaching work with parents and young people, which culminated in the publication of her two bestselling books Cotton Wool Kids in 2015 and Bully-Proof Kids in 2017. Her latest book Fragile was released in 2019 and focuses on overcoming anxiety and stress.
GARDAÍ have set up a specialist unit to target organised criminals involved in Ireland’s multi-million euro sex-trade.
The move is aimed at “protecting vulnerable persons, including victims of human trafficking involved in prostitution in Ireland.”
“This will be achieved by, tackling crime gangs involved in organisation of prostitution, by targeting the demand for prostitution and by safeguarding those persons trafficked for sexual exploitation,” a garda spokesperson said.
The unit have already been involved in targeting the vice trade including one case before the courts involving a 44-year-old male and a 26-year-old female.
They are charged with multiple offences including brothel keeping, money laundering and fraud related offences in the greater Dublin area.
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The website is now controlled by Lazarus Trading registered in Spain and as a result is not subject to Irish law.
The report by Sexual Exploitation Research Programme at UCD laid bare the brutal reality of Ireland’s sex trade.
“Indeed, for some of the organised crime gangs involved in the sex trade in Ireland, prostitution is just one of the ‘businesses’ they are profiting from, as revealed by a series of recent CAB raids and other Garda operations during 2020.”
“Reports on these raids demonstrate that some of the same gangs responsible for running the sex trade are also heavily involved in burglaries, robbery, blackmail, fuel and cigarette smuggling, credit card cloning, the supply of illegal drugs, money laundering, fraud and cybercrime,” it added.