Human Trafficking work

How widespread is human trafficking in the UK?

The number of people being trafficked into the UK and internationally is rising.

The United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre's 2013 figures show that there were 1746 potential victims of trafficking referred to the National Referral Mechanism (the framework for identifying victims of human trafficking and ensuring they receive the appropriate protection and support), a 47% increase on 2012. The 2013 figures show that there is a shift towards more cases of trafficking for forced labour and domestic servitude purposes in adults who are the victims of trafficking and a shift towards more cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation in children who are the victims of trafficking.

The Council of Europe, the EU, the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, the UK Interdepartmental Ministerial Group, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (Twenty Sixth Report 2006); the Home Office and Home Affairs Select Committee (Sixth Report in May 2009); the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking; the Centre for Social Justice report "It Happens Here: Equipping the UK to fight modern slavery (2013); and the Association for Chief Police Officer's reports into the trafficking of migrant women (2010) and into cannabis farming (2012) all raise concerns about the growth of trafficking. The Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group (ATMG) has also produced three reports Wrong Kind of Victim (2010), All Change – preventing trafficking in the UK (2012) and In the Dock (2013) in recent years giving its view on the UK’s compliance with the Council of Europe Convention Against Human Trafficking.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the University of Leeds have also published reports about the growing issue of forced labour looking at the what forced labour is, the interrelationship with trafficking, the incidence of it in the UK, the regulatory and enforcement mechanisms and makes recommendations and the experience of forced labour amongst refugees and asylum seekers in the UK respectively.

How is the Commission helping to combat trafficking?

The Commission has been involved in a number of pieces of work relating to or touching on Article 4 of the Human Rights Act (slavery, trafficking and servitude) including:

  • an Inquiry into Human Trafficking in Scotland in response to concerns raised by key stakeholders such as the Scottish Refugee Council, TARA, the Poppy Project, ECPAT UK, the legal services agency, Amnesty International and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. This Inquiry gathered information on the nature and extent of human trafficking in order to understand its underlying influences and causes. In 2011 the Inquiry report made ten recommendations to assist the government and agencies in Scotland in relation to the duties and positive obligations incumbent on them under Article 4. The Follow Up report in 2013 assessed what progress had been made on the recommendations. The team in Scotland continues to engage with by the Scottish Government and relevant agencies on these.
  • the Human Rights Review (2012) which identified concerns relating to whether the United Kingdom fully complied with the prohibition on slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour set out in Article 4 European Convention of Human Rights. It also outlined/summarised the key points of forced labour and trafficking in relation to the European Convention on Human Rights.
  • the Inquiry into Meat and Poultry Processing in 2011 which found evidence of migrant and agency workers being forced or coerced to work against their will which was indicative of forced labour, causing the Commission concern about breaches of Article 4.

The Commission's legal team has also been engaged in work on the exploitation of migrant domestic workers. The UK Human Trafficking Centre figures show that domestic servitude accounts for approximately 15% of the referrals made to the National Referral Mechanism (the framework for identifying victims of human trafficking and ensuring they receive the appropriate protection and support).

We have also been reviewing the provisions of the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive which came into force on 6 April 2013. The Directive focuses on preventing and combating trafficking and protecting the victims taking a victim centred approach to cover actions in areas such as criminal law, prosecution of offenders, victims' support and victims' rights in criminal proceedings. The Directive played a part in the Commission's intervention in the case of a 14 year old boy (R v TN case) who had been trafficked into the UK and forced into working on an illegal cannabis plant and subsequently prosecuted.

Last Updated: 16 Dec 2014