Five people have been rescued from suspected sex and slavery traffickers in the North, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) said today.
A total of six were arrested for controlling prostitution and people smuggling within the UK following a series of raids.
Northern Ireland officials said nine properties at undisclosed locations were searched and thousands of pounds confiscated.
It was part of a six-month UK-wide police operation Pentameter 2 aimed at criminals selling victims for sex or forced labour.
NIO Security Minister Paul Goggins said: “While the numbers are relatively low compared to the rest of the UK, any incidence of this type of crime is one too many because of the brutality, misery and suffering it causes to innocent victims.
“We will continue to support victims while closing down the criminal networks who seek to profit from this modern form of slavery.”
There were four sexual exploitation victims and one of forced labour. A total of £5,500 was seized and a number of houses raided.
Marie Brown, area manager at Foyle Women’s Aid, said a funding loophole made it difficult to care for those rescued.
“It leaves them very vulnerable, how are they to feed themselves, they are here but they are not being acknowledged,” she said.
“If someone has suffered domestic violence it is very hard for an organisation not to take them in but we find it hard to access money.
“They are human beings at the end of the day and there needs to be a co-ordinated approach on who is supporting them.”
She said it was an emerging problem in Northern Ireland because it crossed borders.
“There are women from ethnic minority backgrounds who may not have come in trafficked but ended up being trafficked and have had to return back to situations (of threat) because we find them very difficult to support,” she added.