Gardaí warn masks in nail bars may hide trafficking victims

Gardaí have cautioned that staff who wear masks in nail bars could be concealing that they are victims of human trafficking.

Detective Chief Superintendent Thelma Waters explained on the Garda podcast that traffickers often instruct victims to keep customer interaction to a minimum, using masks as a “conversation blocker”. She said masks may be positioned over the mouth if someone tries to engage.

Human trafficking involves recruiting or moving a person by force, fraud or exploitation, typically bringing individuals from low‑income countries to work for little or no pay. Liam Herrick of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission told The Claire Byrne Show that Ireland is a destination for such exploitation, with 30‑40% of cases involving labour exploitation and the remainder largely sexual exploitation.

Herrick noted that nail bars are not the only sector affected; trafficking also occurs in agriculture, construction and car‑wash industries, where victims may have passports held, accommodation controlled, be forced to work excessive hours without pay and face violence.

He warned that anyone knowingly using services linked to trafficking could be committing a criminal offence, stressing the need for trained services to identify and protect victims.

Source: Newstalk. Photo: RDNE Stock project / Pexels.