Traffickers 'making potentially millions' in sexual exploitation of people in Scotland
Since 1st January this year, 46 people in Scotland have identified themselves as victims
Traffickers sexually exploiting people in Scotland are making potentially millions of pounds out of the trade.
Police Scotland is launching its first ever campaign targeting the perpetrators, aiming to highlight that people are being trafficked and sexually exploited in plain sight across Scotland and to raise public awareness of what may be going on in their communities.
One woman, trafficked to Scotland and rescued during a police operation in Glasgow, was forced into prostitution for at least eight hours a day, seven days a week while her exploiters charged £120 per hour. She had only been in Scotland for three months.
Since 1st January this year, 44 women and two men have identified themselves as victims of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation and came forward to seek support. Of those, seven were girls under the age of 18.
Assistant Chief Constable Gillian MacDonald, Crime and Protection lead for Police Scotland, said: “Sexual exploitation, or prostitution, is highly lucrative for criminal gangs who exploit people and place them at risk of significant harm.
“People may reply to an advertisement offering work in Scotland and find themselves forced into prostitution for the financial gain of criminals.”
On one day alone more than 1,700 adverts relating to people involved in prostitution in Scotland appeared on the internet. Police say although not all of those people will be victims of exploitation, many will be.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “Human trafficking and exploitation are appalling abuses of human rights, leaving victims highly traumatised and living in fear. It is completely unacceptable these crimes are taking place in modern Scotland and we are determined to do all we can to support victims and target perpetrators. Police Scotland’s tough and targeted approach to tracking down the criminals profiting from this abuse is reaping results and I am pleased to support their latest campaign focussing on human trafficking and sexual exploitation.”
Bronagh Andrew, who is Operations Manager with victim support charity TARA, said: “Since 2004, the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA) run by Community Safety Glasgow, has been providing intensive support and protection to women traumatised by their experiences in Scotland. Trafficked women do not give consent and those who pay for sex are a significant part of the problem so we are pleased to support this vital campaign from Police Scotland targeting the perpetrators of this serious crime.
“The majority of women we support were unaware that they were destined to be sexually exploited in Scotland. They have survived significant harm at the hands of traffickers and those who have paid to sexually abuse them. In order to prevent and eradicate this form of gender based violence a holistic partnership approach must be taken, from raising awareness amongst the public and frontline services to encourage reporting and recovery of victims to disrupting trafficking networks to challenging the demand from those who pay for sex in Scotland.”
In recent operations across Scotland, 12 potential victims of trafficking were identified.
One operation involved Police Scotland working with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Romanian police. It resulted in seven people from an eastern European crime gang being arrested in Romania and a number of potential victims were rescued from sexual exploitation in Glasgow.
All of these victims were based in privately rented premises being used for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. All of the flats were in busy city centre communities, and all of it was happening in plain sight.
Trafficking operations are complex and prolonged often involving multiple agencies, including joint investigation teams from across Europe.