Clause 58 - Trafficking into the UK for sexual exploitation
Sexual Offences Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Mr Neil Gerrard (Walthamstow, Labour)
This morning, I made clear my welcome for the trafficking clauses and the amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Romsey (Sandra Gidley). While I accept that it may not be possible in each case to grant humanitarian protection under the law, we support the intent of the amendment.
There is no question but that trafficking for prostitution has become an extremely profitable activity. It is now estimated that it is as profitable as drug dealing and we are all well aware of the vast sums that are made from that. In 2000, the police undertook a research project. When they checked on 50 flats in Soho, they found 148 women, nearly all of whom were from outside the United Kingdom—in fact, 125 of them were from the Balkans. That so many of the women were from one relatively small region is a clear sign of how organised the trafficking is and how well prepared the gangs involved are.
If we are to get to the people who run the gangs, it is vital that we persuade some of the women who have been trafficked to give evidence against them. They will not do so if they are frightened about what will happen to them, especially if they think that they will be sent back to where they came from, which is obviously where the gangsters are operating. The Home Office has undertaken work on the issue. It has funded a pilot study to provide safe houses, and I hope that that study will be expanded. My hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Ms Keeble) cannot attend the beginning of our proceedings this afternoon, but she has asked me to mention Project Paladin, which the Home Office has been operating at Heathrow. She is extremely impressed by it and is trying to track down what happened to the children who were brought into the United Kingdom.
The key to the problem is to ensure that we treat people who are victims as victims, even if they are adult and even if, in some cases, they knew that they were not coming to this country legally, but did not know what they were being brought here to do, how
they would be treated when they arrived and that, in essence, they would become slaves.
Although the Minister might not accept the amendment, I hope that we shall receive a positive response to the issues with which it deals. If we are to crack the business, it is critical to persuade some of those who have been trafficked—the victims—that they will receive support and protection if they give evidence that leads us to the people who are responsible for such an extremely nasty but profitable trade.