Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the prevalence of human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation in the UK; and what additional measures are being taken to strengthen protections for victims and increase successful prosecutions.

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has set out a mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all the levers available to us to deliver this ambition. This is why the recently published Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy includes a series of measures to tackle sexual exploitation and to better support victims and survivors.

Victims of sexual exploitation make up a large proportion of referrals to the National Referral Mechanism. The most recent annual statistics show that in 2024, sexual exploitation (either partly or wholly) accounted for 17% (3,266) of all referrals. Of these, the majority of those referred were females (79%; 2,564).

The Government is working closely with law enforcement to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through law enforcement activity aimed at tackling modern slavery threats and targeting prolific perpetrators. Also, the National Police Lead for modern slavery is leading Project Turnstone, which will develop a new framework for investigating modern slavery and includes a suite of products to guide forces to identify and tackle sexual exploitation.

To support victims to escape and recover from their exploitation, the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract provides support to adult potential and confirmed victims of exploitation and trafficking in England and Wales. This support includes safe accommodation where necessary, financial support and a support worker to help them access wider support services, including medical treatment, legal aid, legal representatives, and legal advice.

We recently ran a public Call for Evidence on how the Government can improve the process of identifying victims of modern slavery, including for victims who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation. Following analysis of the responses from this Call for Evidence, we will consider whether any future policy changes are needed.