Opinion - Home Office Strategy on Human Trafficking

The Home Office Strategy on Human Trafficking: Targeting those who pay for sexual services from trafficked women

July witnessed the release of the Home Office Strategy on Human Trafficking. In this report attention was paid to tackling demand by targeting those who pay for sexual services from trafficked women. Cited, was the 2009 Policing and Crime Act criminalising individuals who pay for the sexual services of a prostitute subjected to force, deception, threats or any other form of coercion. The law allows police to prosecute men who have sex with women even if they did not know the woman had been forced into prostitution.

"Enforcement of this offence would be a key part of the chain that leads to women being trafficked into the country and help deter those that may consider paying for sexual services from someone who may be trafficked, thereby reducing demand," says the Home Office strategy.

Statistics reveal that demand for paid sexual services increased significantly in the early 2000s, which lead to the UK becoming a destination country for traffickers. The Association of Chief Police Officers has since revealed that in 2010 at least 2,600 prostitutes working in brothels in England and Wales were victims of human trafficking, almost one in 10 of the estimated 30,000 working prostitutes. According to the Home Office report, however, only 40 cases have been prosecuted since the new offence came into effect in April 2010, included in this figure is kerb crawling.
Although the new offence may effectively discourage clients and reduce the demand for prostitutes who have been trafficked, it will surely push the industry further underground and in doing so undermine victim safety. Furthermore, it will inevitably hamper police access to testimony from customers who will be dissuaded from providing evidence on sex workers who could potentially be victims of sexual exploitation, in fear that they might be prosecuted.

The strategies focus on tackling the demand element of trafficking is clearly very positive, however, will trafficking decline as a result or will prostitution be pushed further underground allowing traffickers to work with more impunity. Only time will tell.