Latest news with #NationalReferralMechanism
RTÉ News
07-07-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
HSE clinic sees 43% rise in attendance by sex workers
A HSE clinic offering healthcare to women in the sex industry has seen attendance grow by 43% since it expanded GP services two years ago. The HSE's Women's Health Service provides care and resources to patients, the majority of whom are victims of sexual exploitation. Sex work or prostitution is a dangerous profession which can lead to violence. As a victim of an assault, Paula, who is originally from South America, turned to the HSE's Women's Health Service and its Lead Social Care Worker Joanne Tallis for help. "A friend gave me Joanne's number and I got in contact with her and received the help I needed," she said. The help Paula received included hospital treatment, testing for sexually transmitted infections and legal advice. "I went to a hospital to see (for) the injury I got as a result of the assault and after that, here I come to have my test, my sexual health test and all of that," Paula said. Joanne Tallis supported Paula following the assault. The social care worker has been working in this area for 25 years and has witnessed "a complete transformation" in how the industry operates. When she began her work, Ms Tallis's team was based in Baggot Street in Dublin, where work was predominantly outreach on the streets. It has since moved indoors with the arrival of the internet, mobile phones and advertising. The profile of the women has also changed and those who accessed the service last year came from 29 countries. "In the beginning, we would have had a lot of Irish women and some from the UK, whereas now, three-quarters of clients that use the service would be international clients. "We've kind of adapted and evolved and certainly my job has changed over the years," she said. The team works with victims of trafficking as identified under the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) which supports victims of human trafficking. Those trafficked to Ireland are hugely traumatised by the time they see Dr Aisling Loy, who is a sexual health consultant at the clinic. Dr Loy conducts health screenings, treatment and vaccinations on patients who are mainly CIS women, but also include trans sex workers. Victims of sex trafficking are often advised to go to the clinic for screening, due to the risk they have been exposed to over many years. "So, you've a lot of very traumatised patients that need a lot of assistance in many ways, not just medically, like psychological supports, social supports and it's a full package that they get when they attend here," said Dr Loy. While most attendees are between 26 and 40 years old, the age range of patients varies widely. Last year, the youngest client was 18, and the oldest was over 60. Dr Loy sees patients who she said are put under "extremely difficult circumstances" as part of their work because they are often under duress. "They are made to sleep with many clients in a day. Sometimes, they're having their menstruation for instance, and they're made try to prevent bleeding by putting cotton pads or baby wipes inside their vaginas which can lead to having infections. "Being subjected to that repeated exposure in a day, let alone a week or a month can really cause an increase in things like bacterial vaginosis, candida, so we're dealing with a lot of those non STI related infections," Dr Loy said. Women in the sex industry face significant barriers including stigma, fear, and financial constraints. Some have children or family members who do not know they are engaged in prostitution which leads to fear and anxiety. "When they come to our clinic here (in Dublin), it's a very open clinic, but it's not immediately identifiable that this is a clinic for women who work in the sex industry," according to Joanne Tallis. In the last two years, the service has seen an increase in referrals from social inclusion teams around the country, but the largest number of referrals are peer-to-peer. Paula told others about it because people are treated with "love, respect and they never force anyone to give information that you don't want to give. They are very supportive and helpful". Ultimately, Dr Loy said the service is a public health measure which is helping to protect the wider community. "When you think about it, these ladies are often having intercourse with people in our society who maybe don't realise what protections they are potentially at risk of or maybe their partner is at risk of, so it's important that from a public health measure we ensure they're vaccinated, offered free condoms and STI screening," Dr Loy said.
BBC News
02-07-2025
- BBC News
Portsmouth City Council sees modern slavery referrals double
A city has seen the number of modern slavery cases double over the past year, a council has City Council has revealed a sharp rise in the number of modern slavery cases being to council documents shared during a recent meeting, referrals from Portsmouth to the National Referral Mechanism rose to 32 in 2024, compared to 16 in 2023. Of these, 30 involved individuals under the age of increase in referrals does not automatically point to more cases, the council explained, but is likely linked to growing awareness and improved recognition of modern slavery. Modern slavery includes people being forced to work, treated as property, controlled by employers, and having their freedom council is part of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Modern Slavery Partnership, with senior managers from both adult and children's safeguarding teams Hampshire, 350 potential victims were identified last Lee Hunt said: "Modern slavery is a scourge on our city's life – the government has got to continue funding it because it is a very miserable affair." You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
South Wales Argus
09-06-2025
- South Wales Argus
Groomed terror suspect not treated as a ‘vulnerable child', says her mother
Rhianan Rudd, who died aged 16, had an 'obsession with Hitler', downloaded a bomb-making manual, and threatened to 'blow up' a synagogue after she was radicalised online by an American neo-Nazi. In the 18 months before she died, Rhianan was diagnosed with autism, investigated by counter-terrorism policing and MI5, and prosecuted over terrorism charges after she had been groomed and allegedly sexually exploited by extremists. Senior coroner Judge Alexia Durran concluded that she was not satisfied that Rhianan intended to end her own life at Chesterfield Coroner's Court on Monday. She said that 'missed opportunities' in Rhianan's case were 'not systemic' and she will not make a prevention of future deaths report. Rhianan was charged with terrorism offences (Family handout/Leigh Day Solicitors) In an interview, Rhianan's mother, Emily Carter, said she believes the teenager's death was preventable and the agencies involved in her case need to be held accountable. Ms Carter said: 'They need to recognise that the way they dealt with things was not the correct way, because she's dead. 'I don't ever want this to happen to another family. This has been devastating. 'If I could save just one child from these people making all their changes and making sure they follow through with everything, there's justice in my eyes – my daughter didn't kill herself for no reason. 'It was just one thing after another basically, but all of them should learn from Rhianan's death, all of them.' Ms Carter said Rhianan was not treated as a vulnerable child, despite her autism diagnosis, and she does not believe her daughter was ever a threat to other people. The mother said: 'She was five foot one, weighed seven stone. She was tiny. 'I don't know what people thought she could do, but I don't believe that she was ever a threat. It was just what people would put in her head – brainwashed her, basically. 'They (the agencies) treated her as a child, but I don't believe they treated her as a vulnerable child. 'If you've got vulnerable children, you take extra steps to watch them, to look after them, to make sure they feel safe, even from themselves, and they didn't. Obviously, she's dead.' Rhianan Rudd was found dead at a children's home (Family handout/Leigh Day Solicitors) The mother said the moment 19 police officers and two detectives came to arrest her daughter at their family home was 'mind-numbing' and she felt 'violated' when officers turned her house 'upside down'. She said: 'It hurt … the fact that they thought that my daughter was some sort of massive terrorist. 'They were going to put her in handcuffs, but the handcuffs didn't go small enough. Even on the smallest ones, they just fell off her hands. That's how small she was.' The inquest heard that the police did not refer Rhianan to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), which identifies victims of human trafficking or modern slavery, when they began investigating her in 2020, but the referral was made by Derbyshire County Council in April 2021. Her mother says the NRM referral should have been done 'at the very beginning' because 'they could see that she was vulnerable'. Ms Carter added that she thinks Rhianan should not have been charged, and said: 'She was a child, a vulnerable child. A child with mental health issues. 'She should have been treated as a victim more than anything.' The mother also said it 'angered' her that Rhianan was investigated by MI5 before her death and added: 'If they knew that my daughter was being groomed and sexually exploited online, and then you're investigating at that time, why did nobody come and stop it? 'Why watch a child be completely humiliated, sexualised, trafficked, brainwashed?' Speaking about her daughter's autism diagnosis, Ms Carter said Rhianan would get fixated and 'sucked into' something until it was the 'be all and end all of everything'. She said Rhianan's fixations began with My Little Pony before she became interested in German history, wanted '1940s German furniture in her bedroom', and eventually made contact with extremists on the messaging apps Telegram and Discord. Ms Carter said: 'Finding out that she'd been groomed, and the way these people talked to her … it really changed her wholeness as a person, the way she thinks, the way she feels, everything.' She said that Rhianan was a 'bubbly' girl but she became withdrawn after she was radicalised, and added that the extremists 'took away an innocent child' and 'took away her substance as a person'. She said: 'After she started talking to her so-called friend online – I thought she was talking to gamer friends and friends from school – she started withdrawing. 'She stopped talking about normal things. She wasn't very bubbly, and I'd literally have to drag her out the house.' Rhianan Rudd (left) was aged 16 when she died (Family handout/Leigh Day Solicitors/PA) Ms Carter said she believes Rhianan's death could have been prevented if she was placed in a mental health unit, rather than the children's home, to 'deal with her mood swings, her brain going mad'. She said: 'They don't know a child like a mother does. Even when she was at home, I would wake up two or three times throughout the night and go and check her. These houses aren't guaranteed to do that.' The mother added that it was 'scary' when she referred her daughter to Prevent but she 'knew it had to be done'. She said: 'I was hoping that it was just going to take her two or three times a week to work on her mind, unpick her head, and turn her back into Rhianan. 'Not end up with all these police officers turning up arresting her and pulling my house apart. You don't expect that at all.' The inquest heard that Rhianan took an overdose of her mother's medication after being encouraged to by the 'two competing individuals' in her mind a week before she was charged and moved to the children's home. Recalling that moment, Ms Carter said: 'I go down the stairs and Rhianan was laying on my living room floor. And I actually thought she was dead, but she wasn't. 'She basically called them (an ambulance) when she decided that she changed her mind and didn't want to die.' Ms Carter continued: 'I've made mistakes, and I want the organisations to put their hands up and admit they've made mistakes and to rectify their mistakes so it doesn't happen again. 'And then that way everybody can be happy, except me, because I've already lost my daughter.' Ms Carter described Rhianan as 'loving, kind' and a 'really beautiful soul'. She added: 'Her brother, Brandon, and Rhianan were like two peas in a pod, and he just feels completely lost without her.' Following the inquest, Ms Carter said the family's anguish was increased by hearing that Rhianan was 'let down by the police, the Prevent anti-terror programme, Derbyshire County Council and the mental health bodies'. In a statement read outside Chesterfield Coroner's Court on behalf of Ms Carter by Anna Moore of Leigh Day Solicitors, she added: 'The chief coroner has found that Rhianan was denied access to services which should have supported and protected her and, I believe, could have saved her life. 'Looking at the number of missed opportunities recognised by the coroner, it's hard to see how they cannot have had an impact on Rhianan's state of mind.'
Powys County Times
09-06-2025
- Powys County Times
Groomed terror suspect not treated as a ‘vulnerable child', says her mother
The mother of an autistic teenager who was groomed and 'brainwashed' by right-wing extremists says she was not treated as a vulnerable child before she took her own life. Rhianan Rudd, who died aged 16, had an 'obsession with Hitler', downloaded a bomb-making manual, and threatened to 'blow up' a synagogue after she was radicalised online by an American neo-Nazi. In the 18 months before she died, Rhianan was diagnosed with autism, investigated by counter-terrorism policing and MI5, and prosecuted over terrorism charges after she had been groomed and allegedly sexually exploited by extremists. Senior coroner Judge Alexia Durran concluded that she was not satisfied that Rhianan intended to end her own life at Chesterfield Coroner's Court on Monday. She said that 'missed opportunities' in Rhianan's case were 'not systemic' and she will not make a prevention of future deaths report. In an interview, Rhianan's mother, Emily Carter, said she believes the teenager's death was preventable and the agencies involved in her case need to be held accountable. Ms Carter said: 'They need to recognise that the way they dealt with things was not the correct way, because she's dead. 'I don't ever want this to happen to another family. This has been devastating. 'If I could save just one child from these people making all their changes and making sure they follow through with everything, there's justice in my eyes – my daughter didn't kill herself for no reason. 'It was just one thing after another basically, but all of them should learn from Rhianan's death, all of them.' Ms Carter said Rhianan was not treated as a vulnerable child, despite her autism diagnosis, and she does not believe her daughter was ever a threat to other people. The mother said: 'She was five foot one, weighed seven stone. She was tiny. 'I don't know what people thought she could do, but I don't believe that she was ever a threat. It was just what people would put in her head – brainwashed her, basically. 'They (the agencies) treated her as a child, but I don't believe they treated her as a vulnerable child. 'If you've got vulnerable children, you take extra steps to watch them, to look after them, to make sure they feel safe, even from themselves, and they didn't. Obviously, she's dead.' The mother said the moment 19 police officers and two detectives came to arrest her daughter at their family home was 'mind-numbing' and she felt 'violated' when officers turned her house 'upside down'. She said: 'It hurt … the fact that they thought that my daughter was some sort of massive terrorist. 'They were going to put her in handcuffs, but the handcuffs didn't go small enough. Even on the smallest ones, they just fell off her hands. That's how small she was.' The inquest heard that the police did not refer Rhianan to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), which identifies victims of human trafficking or modern slavery, when they began investigating her in 2020, but the referral was made by Derbyshire County Council in April 2021. Her mother says the NRM referral should have been done 'at the very beginning' because 'they could see that she was vulnerable'. Ms Carter added that she thinks Rhianan should not have been charged, and said: 'She was a child, a vulnerable child. A child with mental health issues. 'She should have been treated as a victim more than anything.' The mother also said it 'angered' her that Rhianan was investigated by MI5 before her death and added: 'If they knew that my daughter was being groomed and sexually exploited online, and then you're investigating at that time, why did nobody come and stop it? 'Why watch a child be completely humiliated, sexualised, trafficked, brainwashed?' Speaking about her daughter's autism diagnosis, Ms Carter said Rhianan would get fixated and 'sucked into' something until it was the 'be all and end all of everything'. She said Rhianan's fixations began with My Little Pony before she became interested in German history, wanted '1940s German furniture in her bedroom', and eventually made contact with extremists on the messaging apps Telegram and Discord. Ms Carter said: 'Finding out that she'd been groomed, and the way these people talked to her … it really changed her wholeness as a person, the way she thinks, the way she feels, everything.' She said that Rhianan was a 'bubbly' girl but she became withdrawn after she was radicalised, and added that the extremists 'took away an innocent child' and 'took away her substance as a person'. She said: 'After she started talking to her so-called friend online – I thought she was talking to gamer friends and friends from school – she started withdrawing. 'She stopped talking about normal things. She wasn't very bubbly, and I'd literally have to drag her out the house.' Ms Carter said she believes Rhianan's death could have been prevented if she was placed in a mental health unit, rather than the children's home, to 'deal with her mood swings, her brain going mad'. She said: 'They don't know a child like a mother does. Even when she was at home, I would wake up two or three times throughout the night and go and check her. These houses aren't guaranteed to do that.' The mother added that it was 'scary' when she referred her daughter to Prevent but she 'knew it had to be done'. She said: 'I was hoping that it was just going to take her two or three times a week to work on her mind, unpick her head, and turn her back into Rhianan. 'Not end up with all these police officers turning up arresting her and pulling my house apart. You don't expect that at all.' The inquest heard that Rhianan took an overdose of her mother's medication after being encouraged to by the 'two competing individuals' in her mind a week before she was charged and moved to the children's home. Recalling that moment, Ms Carter said: 'I go down the stairs and Rhianan was laying on my living room floor. And I actually thought she was dead, but she wasn't. 'She basically called them (an ambulance) when she decided that she changed her mind and didn't want to die.' Ms Carter continued: 'I've made mistakes, and I want the organisations to put their hands up and admit they've made mistakes and to rectify their mistakes so it doesn't happen again. 'And then that way everybody can be happy, except me, because I've already lost my daughter.' Ms Carter described Rhianan as 'loving, kind' and a 'really beautiful soul'. She added: 'Her brother, Brandon, and Rhianan were like two peas in a pod, and he just feels completely lost without her.' Following the inquest, Ms Carter said the family's anguish was increased by hearing that Rhianan was 'let down by the police, the Prevent anti-terror programme, Derbyshire County Council and the mental health bodies'. In a statement read outside Chesterfield Coroner's Court on behalf of Ms Carter by Anna Moore of Leigh Day Solicitors, she added: 'The chief coroner has found that Rhianan was denied access to services which should have supported and protected her and, I believe, could have saved her life. 'Looking at the number of missed opportunities recognised by the coroner, it's hard to see how they cannot have had an impact on Rhianan's state of mind.'
North Wales Chronicle
09-06-2025
- North Wales Chronicle
Groomed terror suspect not treated as a ‘vulnerable child', says her mother
Rhianan Rudd, who died aged 16, had an 'obsession with Hitler', downloaded a bomb-making manual, and threatened to 'blow up' a synagogue after she was radicalised online by an American neo-Nazi. In the 18 months before she died, Rhianan was diagnosed with autism, investigated by counter-terrorism policing and MI5, and prosecuted over terrorism charges after she had been groomed and allegedly sexually exploited by extremists. Senior coroner Judge Alexia Durran concluded that she was not satisfied that Rhianan intended to end her own life at Chesterfield Coroner's Court on Monday. She said that 'missed opportunities' in Rhianan's case were 'not systemic' and she will not make a prevention of future deaths report. In an interview, Rhianan's mother, Emily Carter, said she believes the teenager's death was preventable and the agencies involved in her case need to be held accountable. Ms Carter said: 'They need to recognise that the way they dealt with things was not the correct way, because she's dead. 'I don't ever want this to happen to another family. This has been devastating. 'If I could save just one child from these people making all their changes and making sure they follow through with everything, there's justice in my eyes – my daughter didn't kill herself for no reason. 'It was just one thing after another basically, but all of them should learn from Rhianan's death, all of them.' Ms Carter said Rhianan was not treated as a vulnerable child, despite her autism diagnosis, and she does not believe her daughter was ever a threat to other people. The mother said: 'She was five foot one, weighed seven stone. She was tiny. 'I don't know what people thought she could do, but I don't believe that she was ever a threat. It was just what people would put in her head – brainwashed her, basically. 'They (the agencies) treated her as a child, but I don't believe they treated her as a vulnerable child. 'If you've got vulnerable children, you take extra steps to watch them, to look after them, to make sure they feel safe, even from themselves, and they didn't. Obviously, she's dead.' The mother said the moment 19 police officers and two detectives came to arrest her daughter at their family home was 'mind-numbing' and she felt 'violated' when officers turned her house 'upside down'. She said: 'It hurt … the fact that they thought that my daughter was some sort of massive terrorist. 'They were going to put her in handcuffs, but the handcuffs didn't go small enough. Even on the smallest ones, they just fell off her hands. That's how small she was.' The inquest heard that the police did not refer Rhianan to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), which identifies victims of human trafficking or modern slavery, when they began investigating her in 2020, but the referral was made by Derbyshire County Council in April 2021. Her mother says the NRM referral should have been done 'at the very beginning' because 'they could see that she was vulnerable'. Ms Carter added that she thinks Rhianan should not have been charged, and said: 'She was a child, a vulnerable child. A child with mental health issues. 'She should have been treated as a victim more than anything.' The mother also said it 'angered' her that Rhianan was investigated by MI5 before her death and added: 'If they knew that my daughter was being groomed and sexually exploited online, and then you're investigating at that time, why did nobody come and stop it? 'Why watch a child be completely humiliated, sexualised, trafficked, brainwashed?' Speaking about her daughter's autism diagnosis, Ms Carter said Rhianan would get fixated and 'sucked into' something until it was the 'be all and end all of everything'. She said Rhianan's fixations began with My Little Pony before she became interested in German history, wanted '1940s German furniture in her bedroom', and eventually made contact with extremists on the messaging apps Telegram and Discord. Ms Carter said: 'Finding out that she'd been groomed, and the way these people talked to her … it really changed her wholeness as a person, the way she thinks, the way she feels, everything.' She said that Rhianan was a 'bubbly' girl but she became withdrawn after she was radicalised, and added that the extremists 'took away an innocent child' and 'took away her substance as a person'. She said: 'After she started talking to her so-called friend online – I thought she was talking to gamer friends and friends from school – she started withdrawing. 'She stopped talking about normal things. She wasn't very bubbly, and I'd literally have to drag her out the house.' Ms Carter said she believes Rhianan's death could have been prevented if she was placed in a mental health unit, rather than the children's home, to 'deal with her mood swings, her brain going mad'. She said: 'They don't know a child like a mother does. Even when she was at home, I would wake up two or three times throughout the night and go and check her. These houses aren't guaranteed to do that.' The mother added that it was 'scary' when she referred her daughter to Prevent but she 'knew it had to be done'. She said: 'I was hoping that it was just going to take her two or three times a week to work on her mind, unpick her head, and turn her back into Rhianan. 'Not end up with all these police officers turning up arresting her and pulling my house apart. You don't expect that at all.' The inquest heard that Rhianan took an overdose of her mother's medication after being encouraged to by the 'two competing individuals' in her mind a week before she was charged and moved to the children's home. Recalling that moment, Ms Carter said: 'I go down the stairs and Rhianan was laying on my living room floor. And I actually thought she was dead, but she wasn't. 'She basically called them (an ambulance) when she decided that she changed her mind and didn't want to die.' Ms Carter continued: 'I've made mistakes, and I want the organisations to put their hands up and admit they've made mistakes and to rectify their mistakes so it doesn't happen again. 'And then that way everybody can be happy, except me, because I've already lost my daughter.' Ms Carter described Rhianan as 'loving, kind' and a 'really beautiful soul'. She added: 'Her brother, Brandon, and Rhianan were like two peas in a pod, and he just feels completely lost without her.' Following the inquest, Ms Carter said the family's anguish was increased by hearing that Rhianan was 'let down by the police, the Prevent anti-terror programme, Derbyshire County Council and the mental health bodies'. In a statement read outside Chesterfield Coroner's Court on behalf of Ms Carter by Anna Moore of Leigh Day Solicitors, she added: 'The chief coroner has found that Rhianan was denied access to services which should have supported and protected her and, I believe, could have saved her life. 'Looking at the number of missed opportunities recognised by the coroner, it's hard to see how they cannot have had an impact on Rhianan's state of mind.'
