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.
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.
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.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to stop commercial websites partly or wholly dedicated to advertising prostitution from facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation and other sexual offences.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling modern slavery, including online sexual exploitation remains a top priority for this Government, and we are committed to stamping out this abhorrent crime. Since its introduction, the Modern Slavery Act 2015, has given law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle modern slavery, with maximum life sentences for perpetrators and enhanced protection for victims, including children.
We know that traffickers may use adult services websites (ASW) to advertise victims of modern slavery for sexual exploitation and that is why we are working closely with law enforcement partners and online companies to ensure they live up to their responsibilities of preventing their services from being used for criminal activity. Through Project AIDANT, the series of National Crime Agency-led operational intensifications, operational activity to target exploitation associated with ASWs has increased.
Furthermore, under the Online Safety Bill, all in scope companies will need to take action to prevent the use of their services for criminal activity. Illegal content will need to be removed expeditiously and the risk of it appearing and spreading across their services will need to be minimised by effective systems. For priority categories set out in legislation, companies will need to take particularly robust action. This includes sexual exploitation offences contained in the Sexual Offences Act (2003). For these offences, companies will need to consider the necessary systems and processes to identify, assess and address these offences based on a risk assessment. This might mean more resource for content moderation or limiting algorithmic promotion of content.
The Home Office is also providing £1.36m over the next 3 years to ‘Changing Lives’ for their Net-Reach project, which will tackle Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) online, providing early intervention and targeted support for women and girls at high-risk of commercial online exploitation and the risk on online sexual harm.
Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they are (1) collaborating with international partners, and (2) leveraging foreign aid, to prevent (a) human trafficking in general, and (b) human trafficking that involves sexual exploitation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The government is fully committed to the eradication of human trafficking and all forms of modern slavery by 2030, as unanimously adopted in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The UK continues to be a champion within the international system, building on the Call to Action to End Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking which we launched in 2017, which 92 countries have now endorsed. In October 2019 we appointed the UK's first International Modern Slavery and Migration Envoy to help drive forward our efforts on this agenda. The UK is working with bilateral and multilateral partners, as well as civil society, businesses and partners from academia to catalyse action on Target 8.7 of the SDGs. Examples include our support for international coalitions and UN forums such as Alliance 8.7, the Inter Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT) and engagement with the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.
The government remains committed to using UK aid to help tackle modern slavery, address the root causes and reduce vulnerability. Funding will be focused on supporting the most vulnerable - particularly children, and women and girls. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office programming also includes up to £20m to tackle issues including the commercial sexual exploitation of children and up to £13m for programmes in Bangladesh, India and Nepal which assist women and girls who are vulnerable to trafficking.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the human rights due diligence of the businesses that his Department's Prosperity Fund supports.
Answered by David Lidington
Promotion of human rights remains a fundamental objective of UK foreign policy, and we remain committed to universal human rights – it is the right thing to do. The Prosperity Fund is committed to ensuring that safeguarding and modern slavery considerations are consistent with wider ODA policy and practice across government led by DFID. A Prosperity Fund Commercial Framework, managed by the FCO, has recently been put in place to support the commercial delivery of major Prosperity Fund programmes. This incorporates a supplier code of conduct covering areas such as safeguarding, social responsibility, human rights and ethical behaviour. In addition, implementing departments are actively working to align due diligence processes to ensure adequate assessment of potential partners’ ability to apply safeguards in their work, in particular to safeguard children and vulnerable adults from sexual exploitation and abuse.
Asked by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that businesses supported by his Department's Prosperity Fund undertake adequate human rights due diligence.
Answered by David Lidington
Promotion of human rights remains a fundamental objective of UK foreign policy, and we remain committed to universal human rights – it is the right thing to do. The Prosperity Fund is committed to ensuring that safeguarding and modern slavery considerations are consistent with wider ODA policy and practice across government led by DFID. A Prosperity Fund Commercial Framework, managed by the FCO, has recently been put in place to support the commercial delivery of major Prosperity Fund programmes. This incorporates a supplier code of conduct covering areas such as safeguarding, social responsibility, human rights and ethical behaviour. In addition, implementing departments are actively working to align due diligence processes to ensure adequate assessment of potential partners’ ability to apply safeguards in their work, in particular to safeguard children and vulnerable adults from sexual exploitation and abuse.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help reduce demand for commercial sexual exploitation.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The UK has some of the toughest anti-trafficking laws in the world and is committed to protecting victims and pursuing the slavery gangs behind this abhorrent trade to prevent further exploitation in the future.
In terms of reducing demand for commercial sexual services, the Government recognises the need for research on the nature and prevalence of prostitution before we consider any changes to underlying legislation and policy and have committed £150,000 to fund a research project being undertaken by the University of Bristol. The Government’s focus remains on protecting those selling sex from harm and enabling the police to target those who exploit vulnerable people involved in prostitution.
To support the police to tackle organised sex-trafficking and other forms of modern slavery, the Government has provided £8.5m of additional funding to the police in England and Wales to provide bespoke and dedicated modern slavery capabilities. This police activity is supported at a national level by the National Crime Agency who lead multiagency operations to target key thematic slavery and trafficking threats including organised sexual exploitation.
The increased law enforcement activity against the slavery gangs extends to preventing the use of the internet to facilitate sex trafficking. The NCA, supported by Government, is leading multi-agency work to investigate, disrupt and prevent online sex trafficking facilitated via commercial sex websites.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to combat organised sexual exploitation.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The UK has some of the toughest anti-trafficking laws in the world and is committed to protecting victims and pursuing the slavery gangs behind this abhorrent trade to prevent further exploitation in the future.
In terms of reducing demand for commercial sexual services, the Government recognises the need for research on the nature and prevalence of prostitution before we consider any changes to underlying legislation and policy and have committed £150,000 to fund a research project being undertaken by the University of Bristol. The Government’s focus remains on protecting those selling sex from harm and enabling the police to target those who exploit vulnerable people involved in prostitution.
To support the police to tackle organised sex-trafficking and other forms of modern slavery, the Government has provided £8.5m of additional funding to the police in England and Wales to provide bespoke and dedicated modern slavery capabilities. This police activity is supported at a national level by the National Crime Agency who lead multiagency operations to target key thematic slavery and trafficking threats including organised sexual exploitation.
The increased law enforcement activity against the slavery gangs extends to preventing the use of the internet to facilitate sex trafficking. The NCA, supported by Government, is leading multi-agency work to investigate, disrupt and prevent online sex trafficking facilitated via commercial sex websites.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to tackle commercial websites that facilitate sexual exploitation.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The UK has some of the toughest anti-trafficking laws in the world and is committed to protecting victims and pursuing the slavery gangs behind this abhorrent trade to prevent further exploitation in the future.
In terms of reducing demand for commercial sexual services, the Government recognises the need for research on the nature and prevalence of prostitution before we consider any changes to underlying legislation and policy and have committed £150,000 to fund a research project being undertaken by the University of Bristol. The Government’s focus remains on protecting those selling sex from harm and enabling the police to target those who exploit vulnerable people involved in prostitution.
To support the police to tackle organised sex-trafficking and other forms of modern slavery, the Government has provided £8.5m of additional funding to the police in England and Wales to provide bespoke and dedicated modern slavery capabilities. This police activity is supported at a national level by the National Crime Agency who lead multiagency operations to target key thematic slavery and trafficking threats including organised sexual exploitation.
The increased law enforcement activity against the slavery gangs extends to preventing the use of the internet to facilitate sex trafficking. The NCA, supported by Government, is leading multi-agency work to investigate, disrupt and prevent online sex trafficking facilitated via commercial sex websites.