Human trafficking is a major problem in the UK despite being illegal for 200 years. It operates in the shadows and receives little attention from the media, government or public. As a result, legislative and policy responses to exposeés are inadequate, leaving victims like the 21 Chinese cockle pickers who drowned and Katya, a teenager trafficked into prostitution, without proper support. Several court cases have highlighted the need for stronger laws and sentencing to curb trafficking, protect victims' rights, and prevent further exploitation. Overall, while the government claims combating trafficking is a priority, its actions have not matched this rhetoric.

1. Human Trafficking: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Slavery is the fastest growing and amongst the highest-grossing businesses in
the world. It is alive and well in Great Britain almost 200 years after it was
outlawed by legislation. But it has a new name now.
Human trafficking is discussed frequently, but regrettably only the most
superficial light is shed on its dark shadows. Media reports and intellectual
conversation tend to focus only on its clandestine nature and often overlook
solutions including deterrent legal sanctions. We do not understand human
trafficking nor do we know how to talk about it. This means there has been no
pressure on the Government to make comprehensive policies and legislation;
which currently are reactionary and deficient at best.
The general public cannot be blamed for their ignorance. Human trafficking
isn’t automatically visible. It doesn’t affect our lives on a day to day basis.
However, we know it happens and we are increasingly reminded that it does
happen on our shores. And when it does rear its ugly head from the dark
underbelly of society we are suitably shocked. Shocked for the length of time it
takes us to read the news story, at least.
And if we don’t pay much attention to exposés of human trafficking then it
logically follows that the Government doesn’t feel the pressure or urgency to
take action. Therefore the legislative and policy response to even the most

2. shocking exposés of considerable media interest is often too little and too late.
Take for example one of the country’s most prolific human trafficking failures,
namely the Morecambe Bay tragedy in 2004i. 21 Chinese cockle-pickers; all
illegal migrant workers, trafficked to the UK to be exploited for their cheap
labour, drowned because they were still out working when the tide came in due
to inexperience and harsh working conditions. Concerns about their safety had
been communicated to the police but nothing had been done about it. The
Government response was to bring the Gangmaster’s Licensing Act (2004) into
effect. It reduces the exploitation of migrant workers by establishing a licensing
scheme for casual labour sectors. However, there is still no human rights
approach in this legislation, because the provisions leave the migrant worker
exposed and vulnerable. This legislation is both anaemic and ineffective.
More recently in the news; and with regards to sexual exploitation is Katya’s
storyii. She was trafficked from Moldova to the UK as a young teenager. After
years of being forced into prostitution and kept locked up in a brothel, she
escaped and reported her situation. Despite knowledge of her circumstances, the
Home Office sent her back to Moldova because they believed there was no risk
of her being re-trafficked. Days after her return her traffickers hunted her down,
gang-raped her, strung her up by a rope to a tree, and forced her to dig her own
grave. One of her teeth was wrenched out with a pair of pliers. Then she was re-
trafficked to the UK. The Government response to its disastrous handling of

3. Katya’s case was to pay her substantial, undisclosed damages the day before the
scheduled start of her case at the High Court in London. Presumably this was to
stem the flow of potential claims for unlawful removal from yet more victims of
trafficking failed by Government policy. Katya’s traffickers have still not been
arrested.
Another recent case is that of Miss Mruke; a Tanzanian woman who was
trafficked to the UK to be a domestic slave. She was found in the home of
retired doctor Saeeda Khan, in London where she had been kept for 3 years. She
was forced to sleep on the floor, was only allowed two slices of bread a day to
eat, was unpaid for her servitude and was allowed no contact with her family for
the entire duration of her servitude. The response of the court at the trial was to
order Dr Khan to pay Miss Mruke £25,000 in addition to being handed down a
9 month suspended sentenceiii. Although the courts have punished the captor,
the response is still too lenient. What’s more is that Miss Mruke won’t even be
able to use the services of the Poppy Project; a charitable organisation which
offers accommodation and support to trafficked women. That’s because the
Government has cut its funding of the project, forcing its closureiv.
The bottom line is that despite the Government publicly announcing that
combating human trafficking is a priorityv, its actions tell a very different story.
In addition to this it can be added that in Scotland not one single conviction
under human trafficking specific legislation has ever been secured. This

4. contrasts with over 100 convictions in other jurisdictions of the UKvi. Although
cases are being investigated and some convictions have been secured in
Scotland with regards to immoral earnings and trafficking related offences; it is
important that we do not send out the signal that Scotland is a safe haven for
traffickers. When human beings are sold and transported around the world, it is
an international scandal. But when those individuals are raped, tortured and
exploited as domestic slaves in houses and businesses here in Scotland, then it
becomes our national shame and our responsibilityvii.
The situation is bleak, but steps can be taken to remedy the legislative and
policy gaps which are porous to traffickers who have developed increasingly
ingenuous ways of avoiding detection and punishment. First and foremost the
general public needs to become aware of the issue and step up to compel the
Government to take notice. And if UK policy is to change it must be more
holistic. Fragmentary legislation would be better replaced by one
comprehensive, governing statute which deals with the whole legal process.
Deportation should not be the first consideration for traumatised victims like
Katya. Victim support organisations should not be closed so that Miss Mruke
might be able to rebuild her life. Determinative and deterrent sentencing for
criminals should be enforced so that people like Dr Khan will think twice before
keeping slaves. And finally, raising awareness both here and in source countries

5. should take precedence so that girls like Katya do not find themselves in her
situation. Let us abolish slavery once and for all.
i http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4238209.stm
ii http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/apr/19/sex-trafficking-uk-legal-reform
iii http://www.harrowtimes.co.uk/news/8917113.Charity__disappointed__with_slavery_sentence/
iv http://www.eaves4women.co.uk/
v http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/news/eu-wide-action
vi http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/equal/inquiries/migration/documents/Conclusions.pdf
vii http://www.sccyp.org.uk/publications/adults:“Scotland: A Safe Place For Child Traffickers?”