Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy 2025: Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment

Summary of evidence

Human trafficking and exploitation (trafficking) are human rights abuses which are often complex and hidden crimes. They involve the illegal practice of recruiting, transporting, receiving, controlling, or exchanging people to exploit them, mostly for profit. Victims can be exploited for labour, sex and criminal purposes as well as for domestic work, organ harvesting, or other purposes.

A total of 920 referrals relating to Scotland were made to the National Referral Mechanism (the Home Office UK-wide framework for victim identification) in 2024. This is an increase of 20% compared to 2023 where there were 765 referrals. Of the 920 referrals 664 referrals were for adults, with 256 referrals for children [based on age at point of referral]. Vietnamese was the largest nationality grouping, followed by Albanian and UK. Of the adults referred 487 of referrals included indicators of labour exploitation, followed by criminal exploitation (176 referrals) and sexual exploitation (92 referrals). Of the children referred 119 of referrals included indicators of criminal exploitation, followed by labour exploitation (103 referrals) and sexual exploitation (36 referrals). Overseas exploitation only accounted for 395 (43%) of referrals from Scotland.

Victims of human trafficking and exploitation are amongst the most vulnerable members of our society. Human trafficking and exploitation create significant physical and mental health harms to individual victims. Physical abuse, including sexual exploitation, can result in long lasting health conditions both during victims’ trafficking experience and following removal from such a situation. Lack of medical intervention during exploitation and limited access to basic nutrition can also facilitate long term health complications. The psychological impact experienced by victims will often create long lasting mental health challenges. These challenges can be exacerbated by uncertainty around the future and difficulties and delays navigating criminal justice processes, immigration systems or accessing education and employment opportunities.

The evidence collected as part of the strategy review process showed that a public health approach would allow us to reflect the changing landscape and evolving workstreams in our attempts to combat human trafficking and exploitation. There have been growing calls for taking such an approach to trafficking and exploitation within academic literature, as outlined in the series of evidence reviews^[2], produced by the Scottish Government’s Justice Analytical Services (JAS), but this is at an early stage of development within policy and practice. Whilst evidence is lacking on ‘what works’ to prevent human trafficking and exploitation^[3], the available information provides useful insight into the challenges and opportunities for prevention, and highlights the potential merits of a public health preventative approach.

The literature highlights the potential benefits of a public health approach to human trafficking and exploitation (McCoig et al., 2022). Principally, it offers a collaborative, multi-agency framework for activity that is heavily prevention focused and data led. A public health approach goes beyond interventions designed to alter the behaviours and outcomes of at-risk individuals. It aims to improve the health, wellbeing, safety and living conditions of whole populations by identifying and addressing the underlying causes such as poverty, economic vulnerability, gender inequalities, social exclusion and demand (Kiss and Zimmerman, 2019; Such et al..2022).

The evidence^[4] also showed that the systematic inclusion of survivors’ voice would allow access to expert knowledge, a strategy that truly meets the needs of survivors, the identification of the specific risks and challenges victims face, especially in relation to retrafficking, and ultimately improve outcomes for victims. For example, findings from work with survivors highlight ways to improve the delivery of support services, including by providing holistic, long-term, trauma-informed and culturally competent interventions and developing trusted relationships between practitioners and survivors.

Finally, the evidence^[5] as well as engagement with stakeholders strongly suggested the need for an additional outcome within the Strategy focused specifically on the strengthening of data, evidence and research to inform implementation of the Strategy.