Human trafficking in the United Kingdom

Involuntary domestic servitude is a form of human trafficking found in unique circumstances—informal work in a private residence—these circumstances create unique vulnerabilities for victims. Domestic workplaces are informal, connected to off-duty living quarters, and often not shared with other workers. Such an environment, which can isolate domestic workers, is conducive to exploitation because authorities cannot inspect homes as easily as they can compared to formal workplaces. Investigators and service providers report many cases of untreated illnesses and, tragically, widespread sexual abuse, which in some cases may be symptoms of a situation of involuntary servitude.[10] Many victims live in fear of going to the authorities. They believe that they will only be recognized as illegal immigrants and punished for it. Some victims don't know that they are victims because of the isolation from the world and/or cultural or language barriers.[11]

There are different forms of recruitment in the United Kingdom for trafficking. A woman in the United Kingdom might be recruited by someone who uses physical/sexual violence, deceived into coming to the UK by someone who convinces her she can study or work there, or by someone who has a position of power over her. In these power difference situations, the woman cannot refuse this persons control. It is possible for women who are physically or emotionally harmed to be easily influenced by prostitution enforcers who take control of their vulnerability. This recruitment process will most likely involve more than one person due to the travelling that some trafficked women will have to do. The recruiters could be one who recruits women, one who arranges traveling documents, and another might meet her in the United Kingdom.[12]

As of 2018 gangs force children to commit crimes and rough sleepers are recruited into slavery.[13]

The UK action plan on tackling human trafficking has discovered that many victims arrive into the United Kingdom on inexpensive airlines and often into small airports where there is less security surveillance. Other methods of transportation for victims of trafficking are by train, boat, bus, car, and even on foot. There are many different routes, including the Albanian, Nigerian, Moldavian, Russian-Ukrainian, and the Eastern Mediterranean route to name a few. Children victims of trafficking have been known to enter into the UK through different airports such as London City, Stansted, and Belfast International airport. They have also been discovered to have traveled to England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland airports. Before entering into the United Kingdom, victims of trafficking generally pass through transit countries. A transit country is a country that a trafficker will pass through on the way to their final destination. Countries that have very high volumes of traffickers being transited include Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Thailand. Children from China have the highest proportion of victims according to studies, and travel on different routes before reaching the United Kingdom. Some of the countries that they travel through include Russia, Bolivia, Brazil, Indonesia, and Kenya.[14] The most prominent and recent case of human trafficking was seen within the Essex lorry deaths of 2019[15]

It is important to traffickers that their victims are cooperative when doing business. In order to keep their workers in line, traffickers have different methods of control that they practice. Some of these include drugging them, removing documentation, preventing the victims from learning the language, isolation, moving them from place to place, threatening them, and accommodating them in a way that they will become homeless if they leave. By moving victims from place to place, they are unable to become familiar with their surroundings. This keeps the victims detached from the world in a physical and mental way. With this kind of control, the victims become helpless, and have almost no chance of escaping from their traffickers.[14]

Traffickers also stay in control of their victims with the use of intimidation, threats and violence, although in some cases victims have some freedom of movement since the traffickers have gained a psychological hold over their victims. Examples of control methods include: threats of intimidation/violence, threat to inflict violence upon their families at home, threat to inform victims family of their involvement in prostitution, removal of documentation, debt bondage, ritual oaths, drugs and alcohol, curtailment of freedom and movement, consistent change of location, fear of authorities, isolation, threats of deportation and some victims simply don't recognise they are a victim of human trafficking.[16]

Since the secretive nature of the criminal world, it is hard to tell the true number of victims of human trafficking. What can be said is that human trafficking is more prominent now than it has ever been.[16] The National Crime Agency believes the number of victims is in the tens of thousands within the UK.[16]

Chinese, Nigerian and Vietnamese individuals are the most commonly reported nationalised for potential victims of human trafficking.[16]

In 2012, a report showed that most victims being trafficked into the United Kingdom were from China, Vietnam and Eastern Europe. According to Rosa Silverman, the revenue generated by one sex worker was estimated to be £48,000, therefore, the market is worth tens of millions of pounds.[18] The costs of travel and obtaining fake documentation can be very costly. This can range from £500 to £12,000 for fake documentation and £2,000 to £3,000 for travel from Europe. If the victim is travelling from a farther location, the cost of travel can be much more. Studies show that the travel cost from China is between £25,000 and £50,000 for one victim. The methods of transportation can also have an effect on the cost of travel. Some traffickers purchase their victims, which can become very costly to their business. Depending on different factors including race, location, and age of the victim, the cost can vary. One trafficker reported to have paid as little as £800 for a girl from South Africa, but another paid £20,000 for a different girl. The reported sales value of a victim in the United Kingdom is usually between £3000 and £4000.[14]

If you were ever a victim of trafficking in the United Kingdom, it is possible to receive compensation from the government, or from those who were in charge of trafficking you. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2009 is the program in charge of allowing victims to be compensated for the injuries they have received while being trafficked. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2009 is run by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). In order to receive compensation through the program, you must report the violence or harm you experienced to the authorities within two years of escaping your situation. Your traffickers do not need to be arrested in order to receive compensation from them.[12]

The National Vigilance Association was created at a meeting located in London in 1885. This is an example of a past association that took on the challenge of trying to diminish human trafficking. The purpose of this association was to be the main agency for undertaking private prosecutions for human trafficking and alert police of those that broke the new passed Criminal Law Amendment Act. The Criminal Law Amendment Act included, offense to hold a woman under 21 as a prostitute, the legal age of sexual consent pushed up to 16 years old, any male found practicing homosexual acts in private/public would be charged and imprisoned, and financial penalties were imposed on anyone involved in prostitution acts. These acts allowed for women to be isolated in military stations across England and Ireland if they were believed to be involved in forms of prostitution. By 1888, the NVA had 300 affiliated groups that were engaged in local, national and international levels. By 1977, the NVA was unable to continue due to financial difficulties. The prosecutions that they performed became costly and the NVA began to lose control of their original duties. They were forced to change their focus or end their branches completely. By the middle of the 20th century, the remaining NVA in Scotland was redesigned to become a casework agency. The NVA helped to change the relationship between the individual and the state by allowing the state to have a right to intervene in inappropriate sexual behavior, where in the past, sexual behavior was always considered a private matter for the individual.[27]

The two most recent attempts at defining, preventing and prosecuting human trafficking of the international law are the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air. These were created by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). According to King, the standard for how a trafficked victim should be treated is explained in two international agendas, "Human Rights Standards for the Treatment of Trafficking Persons" and "Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking."[28]

There are issues that occur when trying to enforce international laws. Victims of trafficking are usually very hesitant to admit their situations because they fear the consequences. Another problem that occurs when trying to enforce international law is the lack of training that enforcement has in each state. It is usually not likely that each officer in a state is properly trained with the knowledge and skills needed in order to handle trafficking victims. In order to provide a solution, the awareness of these officers and officials is crucial. Particularly, health service, social workers, building inspectors and health and safety inspectors need to be properly informed of how to recognize different indicators of forced labor and prostitution.[11] The training of immigration judges is also crucial when identifying females that are being trafficked. The United Kingdom Human Trafficking Center (UKHTC) has put 12 training seminars in place since 2008, which includes trafficking in the UK now, laws on human trafficking and identification of victims. The language barrier is another issue that arises when women are passed across international borders.[28]

Government policy relies on a robust approach to risk assessment to help ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking are eliminated as far as possible within government commercial operations and supply chains.[29]