Fifteen foreign women were brought into Ireland last year for sexual exploitation, according to figures released tonight.
Voluntary organisation Ruhama, which works with women engaged in prostitution, said the figure was just the tip of the iceberg.
Acting director Ms Geraldine Rowley said they had helped at least 70 foreign women in 2003. Many of them worked as lap-dancers.
Ms Rowley called for tougher legislation to crack down on people-traffickers. She also urged people not to support the industry by visiting such clubs.
Her call follows the arrests of nine women and one man in a raid on a Dublin lap-dancing club over the weekend.
One of the women did not have an employment permit and has been detained pending deportation. The other nine were released without charge.
The arrests were the latest development in Operation Quest, which initiated raids on ten clubs across the State last June. Investigations are continuing, gardaí said.