YORKSHIRE
What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery, where people are recruited and moved for the purpose of exploitation, as they are forced or manipulated into working for the profit of others.
In practice, the terms modern slavery and human trafficking are often used interchangeably. For clarity, we have defined both below.
The UN defined human trafficking in the Palermo Protocol as the ‘recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force, coercion or deception… to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation’.
According to this definition, trafficking includes sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, domestic servitude, any form of slavery, and the removal of organs.
Human Trafficking = Act + Means + Purpose
Trafficking is a complex crime and consists of three parts
ACT: What is done
Recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring and receiving a person.
MEANS: How it’s done
Through threats, force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power and vulnerability, giving and receiving payments.
PURPOSE: Why it’s done
To use a person through forms of exploitation such as: sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude, criminal exploitation, and organ harvesting.
All 3 components must be present for an adult to be considered trafficked. However, as regards children, the ‘means’ component is not required as they are not able to give consent.
What is Modern Slavery?
The Home Office has described modern slavery as “a serious and brutal crime in which people are treated as commodities and exploited for criminal gain”.
“Traffickers and slave masters use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment.” HM Government
Usually, the victim is forced to work or is sexually exploited, and the trafficker keeps all or nearly all of the money. The control can be physical, financial, or psychological.
Modern slavery is not just something that’s happening beyond our borders. It can happen to people of all ages and nationalities, but often it is prevalent amongst the most vulnerable groups whose desires to build a better future for themselves and their families are exploited. Typically, women and girls are most affected.
The scale of these crimes is huge and the impact on people’s lives is devastating. Modern slavery is an issue that happens everywhere and affects us all – it is happening here and now in the UK, too.
Below are some types of modern slavery and exploitation.
Labour Exploitation
Any work or service which people do against their will, commonly controlled and under threat of punishment to themselves or family, with the money they earn taken by someone else.
Sexual Exploitation
Vulnerable people, overwhelmingly women and girls, are coerced or forced into the sex trade, where they are required to perform sexual acts. It often begins with a promise of good work in hospitality or modelling, or a ‘boyfriend’ is responsible.
Criminal Exploitation
Forced criminality such as growing or transporting drugs, forced begging, stealing and benefit fraud. The threat of being reported becomes another method of control over victims. The person forced to commit the crime is more likely to get caught than the controller.
Domestic Servitude
Forced work in a private household where the person has restricted freedom and is often expected to work any time, day or night, doing tasks such as childcare and housekeeping, with little or no pay.
Forced Marriage
More than 15 million people are thought to have been forced into a marriage without consent, nearly all of them women and girls, often to an older man in another region or country.