Publication - Strategy/plan

Scotland's Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy 2025

Published: 30 July 2025
From: Minister for Victims and Community Safety, +6 more … Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, Director for Children and Families, Director of Justice, Lord Advocate, Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, Solicitor General
Directorate: Justice Directorate, +2 more … Children and Families Directorate, Safer Communities Directorate
Topic: Business, industry and innovation, Children and families, Equality and rights, +3 more … Health and social care, Public sector, Work and skills
ISBN: 9781836919049

Scotland's revised strategy focused on prevention of human trafficking and exploitation in Scotland.

Footnotes

1. Scottish Government (2023) Trafficking and exploitation strategy: review.

2. Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services (2025) Preventing Human Trafficking and Exploitation: Evidence Review.

3. Zimmerman, C. and Kiss, L. (2017) ‘Human trafficking and exploitation: A global health concern’.

4. Human Rights Act 1998.

5. United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (2000) ‘Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime’.

6. Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services (2025) Preventing Human Trafficking and Exploitation: Evidence Review.

7. Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (2021) ‘The top 20 non-UK source countries for modern slavery in the UK: Research Summary for internationally focused actors’.

8. Sprang, G., Stoklosa, H. and Greenbaum, J. (2022) ‘The Public Health Response to Human Trafficking: A Look Back and a Step Forward’, Public Health Reports.

9. Based on the work of Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (2022) ‘Prevention of adult sexual and labour exploitation in the UK: What does or could work?’. Also based on the work of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (2024) ‘National Human Trafficking Prevention Framework: A Public Health Approach to Preventing Human Trafficking’.

10. Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (2022) ‘Prevention of adult sexual and labour exploitation in the UK: What does or could work?’.

11. Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (2022) ‘Prevention of adult sexual and labour exploitation in the UK: What does or could work?’.

12. Section 11 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015.

13. The Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (Iriss) (2021) Child protection in the 21st century: a role for contextual safeguarding.

14. Scottish Transitions Forum (2025) Principles of Good Transitions.

15. National Trauma Transformation Programme (2023) A Roadmap for Creating Trauma-Informed and Responsive Change: Guidance for Organisations, Systems and Workforces in Scotland.

16. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) (2023) ‘Guidance on Trauma-Informed National Referral Mechanisms and Responses to Human Trafficking’.

17. St Mary’s University Twickenham London ‘Cultural Influences and Cultural Competency in the Prevention and Protection of Survivors of Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking: Insights from the UK and Albania’.

18. Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (2024) ‘Cultural competency in UK responses to modern slavery’.

19. Scottish Government (2024) Participation Handbook. Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (2022) ‘A review of current promising practices in the engagement of people with lived experience to address modern slavery and human trafficking’.

20. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (2022) ‘Applying Gender-Sensitive Approaches in Combating Trafficking in Human Beings’.

21. Human Trafficking Search (2016) LGBTQI+ victims of human trafficking.

22. This includes the identification and support of both male and female victims in non-corresponding trafficking sectors which are forms of trafficking that mainly affect the victims of the opposite sex, such as sexual exploitation of men and boys, or trafficking for the purpose of organ removal of women and girls (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (2022) ‘Applying Gender-Sensitive Approaches in Combating Trafficking in Human Beings’.

23. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024.

24. Scottish Government (2022) Serious Organised Crime Strategy.

25. The Serious Organised Crime Taskforce Strategy makes these links clear. Scottish Government (2022) Serious Organised Crime Strategy.

26. UK Government (2024) Official Statistics Modern Slavery: NRM and DtN statistics, July to September 2024.

27. Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (2022) Cost of living likely to make people more vulnerable to modern slavery.

28. Athreya, B. (2020) ‘Slaves to Technology: Worker control in the surveillance economy’, Anti-Trafficking Review.

29. Council of Europe (CoE) Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) (2022) ‘Online and technology-facilitated trafficking in human beings Summary and recommendations’. Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services (2025) Preventing criminal exploitation: evidence summary.

30. The Children’s Society (2021) ‘Exploitation online’.

31. International Organization for Migration (2022) ‘Climate Change and Future Human Mobility Evidence Summary’.

32. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) (2022) ‘Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2022’.

33. United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (2000) ‘Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime’.

34. The Stationery Office Limited (2012) ‘Treaty Series No. 37 (2012) Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings’.