Scotland's Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy Delivery Plan 2026-2028

Introduction

The revised Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy, published in July 2025, sets out a public health approach to human trafficking and exploitation. A public health approach works across three levels: primary prevention, secondary prevention and tertiary prevention. More information on this and the prevention continuum developed by Dr Liz Such and colleagues, can be found in the Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy.

This Delivery Plan operationalises the public health approach set out in the Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy by progressing actions across primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. These three levels are referred to in this Strategy in the following way:

• before harm occurs – primary prevention
• intervening early – secondary prevention
• treating harms and preventing retrafficking – tertiary prevention

While some actions focus on the immediate response and processes, others reflect the longer term, whole-system approach required to address the structural conditions that enable trafficking and exploitation. Delivery will be informed by lived experience, emerging evidence and governance arrangements which allow priorities to adapt over time.

The Strategy sets out four long-term outcomes:

Outcome 1

Child and adult victims are identified, protected and supported to safety and long-term recovery: the protection and support of child and adult victims remains an absolute priority for the Strategy. For this to be effective, early identification, access to co-ordinated services, legal entitlements and community integration opportunities are crucial. The voices of people with lived experience will continue to inform work in this area.

Outcome 2

Perpetrators are identified, their activities are disrupted and they are prosecuted: taking robust and swift action against perpetrators, be they individuals, businesses or organised crime groups, is essential in order to protect children, adults and communities against the harm caused by trafficking and exploitation. The identification and prosecution of those involved in serious organised crime continues to be an essential part of the Serious Organised Crime Strategy.

Outcome 3

Improved use of data, evidence and research informs strategy implementation: in order to understand the nature of trafficking and profile of victims and perpetrators in Scotland, it is vital that evidence and data use is improved. This is also important for learning from activities that have proven to be most effective and identifying areas for improvement as well as keeping abreast of emerging trends in trafficking and changes across associated risk factors.

Outcome 4

Conditions that expose children, adults and communities in Scotland to increased risks of trafficking and retrafficking are addressed: this outcome aligns with the overall prevention framework of a Public Health approach as well as the existing Government strategies that seek to ensure a safer and fairer Scotland. Efforts directed towards the prevention of trafficking will continue to span local, Scottish, UK and international levels.

This delivery plan expands on the former strategy and the positive progress delivered since 2017. The plan is structured around the Outcomes above, and refreshed governance arrangements will enable an agile and responsive approach to the actions proposed below. The timeframe of actions and achieving outcomes will vary across short, medium and long term which is broadly set out below. For the medium and long-term timeframes, work will be ongoing during this time period but outcomes may only be achieved towards the end of this period:

Short-term: less than 18 months (to be achieved within 18 months)

Medium-term: 18 months – 3 years (this includes ongoing/continuing work)

Long-term: 3 years + (this includes ongoing and continuous work)

As the intention is to set up a Survivor Forum, it is our expectation that survivors will be embedded in the governance structure and will themselves decide which actions they will be directly involved in. The current version of the delivery plan therefore does not explicitly include survivors under the ‘Lead’ column as the Survivor Forum will prioritise their actions when constituted.