Human trafficking is a hideous and highly gendered crime affecting primarily women and girls and has attracted the attention of researchers, experts and stakeholders from various fields, who continue to explore the phenomenon through multiple lenses. Although black African women are among the most exploited cohorts worldwide, little attention is paid to the racial dimension of trafficking and these women’s experiences are largely absent from the anti-trafficking discourse. Responding to this gap in awareness, the present study explores the experiences of eight black African migrant women who have been trafficked into/through Ireland for sexual exploitation. Unstructured in-depth narrative interviews and thematic narrative analysis are employed to give voice to the first-hand experiences and opinions of these women. The racial understanding of human trafficking is interrogated, informed by my subjective positioning as a black African, migrant woman, a feminist, an advocate, a support provider and a researcher. The study’s findings confirm that the limited extent of race-centred discourse in human trafficking narratives, particularly around the sexual exploitation of black African women, means that the experiences of such women may not always be understood by western researchers and support providers. The findings also highlight distinctively African aspects of the women’s experiences that, again, may meet relatively little understanding or sympathy in secular European contexts. This lack of understanding and a wider lack of awareness and information has meant that most of the participants have had to navigate their recovery and the rebuilding of their lives outside of the sex trade, without any support or intervention. A need for awareness-raising within migrant communities, including residents of direct provision centres, is highlighted. Race-centred support and interventions for trafficked survivors from black and other ethnic minorities are also needed, to address appropriately issues and harms that might be specific to them. By giving voice and visibility to trafficked black women, the study contributes to a race-centred discourse on human trafficking.