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Written Question

Human Trafficking and Sexual Offences: Women

Wednesday 13th March 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with the Northern Ireland Minister for Justice on tackling female (a) trafficking, (b) exploitation and (c) sexual exploitation in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

Criminal justice is devolved in Northern Ireland, with responsibility for the policy and legislative response to modern slavery resting with the Northern Ireland Executive. However, we recognise that trafficking can involve the movement of vulnerable individuals across borders, and we work closely with our partners in the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that our response to modern slavery across the UK is joined-up and the legislation is complementary.

This includes, at official level, regular engagement with representatives from the Devolved Administrations, through quarterly meetings and the Modern Slavery Engagement Forums. These Forums focus on key policy areas, including enforcement, prevention, adult victim support, and child and victim support policy. Officials also engage in quarterly meetings with representatives on commercial sexual exploitation.

The Home Office also engages with First Responder Organisations, across the whole of the United Kingdom. In Northern Ireland this includes the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Health and Social Care trusts and Belfast and Lisburn Women’s Aid. First Responders are trained by their respective organisations to identify indicators of modern slavery and refer potential victims into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). In 2023, there were 462 NRM referrals sent to the PSNI for investigation, accounting for 3% of all referrals received, as published in the National Referral Mechanism statistics on GOV.UK.

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Written Question

Sexual Offences

Thursday 23rd November 2023

Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make it an offence to (a) enable and (b) profit from the commercial sexual exploitation of another person.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

Tackling all forms of sexual exploitation remains a top priority for this Government.

The acts of buying and selling sex are not in themselves illegal in England and Wales and we have no plans to change the law in this area. However, the Government’s focus is on tackling the harm and exploitation that can be associated with prostitution and sex work.

There are already offences in place to tackle illegal activities that can be associated with prostitution, including sections 52 and 53 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which cover offences of causing or inciting prostitution for gain and controlling prostitution for gain. Sexual exploitation related to human trafficking is an offence under section 2 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 also gives law enforcement agencies and courts the tools, such as Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders and Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders, to take action against offenders and prevent future offending.

The new Online Safety Act 2023 includes these crimes as priority offences. Online companies, including adult services websites (ASWs), will have a duty to prevent illegal content relating to sexual exploitation appearing on their sites.

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Written Question

Sexual Offences: Exploitation

Monday 13th November 2023

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help women who have experienced adult sexual exploitation.

Answered by Sarah Dines

The Government is fully committed to protecting victims from, and tackling, the devastating harm associated with adult sexual exploitation.

Adult sexual exploitation can occur across a spectrum of offending, from intimate partner violence, including domestic abuse and rape and sexual violence to serious and organised crime, including human trafficking. These offences are covered under a range of legislation.

Due to the complex nature of adult sexual exploitation, victims can access tailored support across different services depending on the harm they have experienced.

The Home Office is providing £1.36 million over three years to Changing Lives for their Net-Reach project, providing early intervention and targeted support for women and girls at high-risk of commercial online exploitation and the risk on online sexual harm. We are also providing over £180,000 in 2023/24 to Trevi Women to provide support to women with complex and multiple needs, including women seeking to exit on-street prostitution in Plymouth.

The Government funded Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract also provides victims of modern slavery access to safehouse accommodation and a dedicated support worker who provides information on their rights and facilitates access to wider statutory support services, specifically related to the victim’s experience – this can be gender specific, such as assistance with accessing sexual health services as a result of sexual exploitation.

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Select Committee

English Collective of Prostitutes

MSA0074 - Modern Slavery Act 2015

Written Evidence May. 14 2024

Inquiry: Modern Slavery Act 2015
Inquiry Status: Closed
Committee: Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee

Found: exploitation” stated that it was happening on an “industrial scale”.

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