Adult victims of human trafficking and exploitation: guidance on support - consultation

5. Principles and processes underlying support for adult victims of human trafficking

5.1 Key principles

Trauma-informed & culturally competent support

Victims of human trafficking are vulnerable and may be experiencing psychological trauma as a result of their experiences. Anyone working with or supporting a victim of trafficking should be able to recognise the impact of trauma and have the skills to respond in trauma-informed and trauma-responsive ways. The National Trauma Transformation Programme (NTTP) provides a wide range of learning resources, guidance and implementation support for all sectors of the workforce to up-skill staff to the appropriate level of trauma-informed and responsive practice.

While psychological assessments should only be carried out by medical professionals, it is essential that all who work with victims are careful not to cause any re-traumatisation. Victims may have underlying vulnerabilities or be unable to share their full experience of exploitation. Other victims may not recognise themselves as having been exploited or may be reticent to raise their experiences for other reasons.

Victims of all ages may have experienced significant trauma and may have no access to their usual informal and formal supports. Stress is likely to increase with fewer relational supports, alongside any challenges associated with the experience of exploitation, including dealing with trauma, loss, homelessness, and financial pressures. Identifying needs at the earliest opportunity will be vital to reduce the risk of further harm.

Trauma-informed practice is an approach to care provision that considers the impact of trauma exposure on an individual’s biological, psychological and social development. Delivering services in a trauma-informed way means understanding that individuals may have a history of traumatic experiences. These experiences may impact on their ability to feel safe and develop trusting relationships with all services, including social work, police and healthcare professionals.

Trauma-informed practice is not intended to treat trauma-related issues. It seeks to reduce the barriers to service access for individuals affected by trauma.

Key principles of a trauma informed approach are:

• safety
• trustworthiness
• choice
• collaboration
• empowerment

Cultural competence refers to the requirement to support the needs of a diverse population of survivors in a way that understands their cultural background. The lack of culturally competent practice may be experienced as re-traumatising by survivors. Survivors can face barriers to support created by a lack of cultural and structural competency at individual, organisational and policy levels.

When supporting a victim, consideration should be given to the impact of culture, spirituality, and religion. Health beliefs and values vary between and within cultures and religions. This can impact on health, behaviour, and attitudes towards health and other professional services, including social work and social care, and should be taken into consideration when providing person-centred care.

Language plays an important role in the provision of culturally competent support. For further information on translation and interpretation, see section 6.5.

Based on multi-agency working

Collaboration across services and organisations to improve outcomes for survivors of trafficking and exploitation and ensuring that perpetrators are held to account is an essential cornerstone of how victim support is to be implemented. It is also important to recognise that victims may be subject to the experience of concurrent risks and harms, and it is vital that our services recognise this and work together in supporting victims. Effective communication and information-sharing is key to multi-agency working.

Responsive to needs and survivor-informed

The support journey for victims needs to be tailored to the specific needs of the individual. Survivors may have specific needs related to their experiences, circumstances or protected characteristics and may require additional support to ensure safety and recovery.

5.2 Adult Support and Protection

All adults who are at risk of harm have the fundamental right to be safe and protected. The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act was introduced to safeguard individuals (16+ years old) who are unable to protect their own wellbeing, property, rights, or other interests; are at risk of harm; and, due to disability, mental disorder, illness, or physical or mental infirmity, are more vulnerable to being harmed than adults who are not so affected.

Where an adult potential victim is identified and the identifying organisation knows or believes the adult may be at risk of harm, an adult support and protection referral should be made by following the Adult Support and Protection Guidance. The individual’s consent is not required for an Adult Support and Protection referral to be made if the criteria are known or believed to be met.

Any adult (aged 16 or over) deemed to be at risk of harm will be treated the same as any other adult at risk of harm, regardless of their nationality. Statutory responsibility for undertaking Adult Support and Protection inquiries rests with the local authority where the adult who may be at risk of harm is currently. Such inquiries should involve all key agencies and include consideration of any necessary enhancements to local processes and the communication of these changes to the workforce and wider community.

5.3 Role and timing of risk and needs assessments

SAVTS service providers delivering support under the 2015 Act will conduct the following assessments with victims at various points during their recovery journey. Assessments must be conducted in a language that the victim understands and include:

• Initial Risk Assessment: an initial assessment of risk and immediate needs at the point of referral into support under the SAVTS
• Full Risk Assessment: a more detailed risk assessment of safeguarding needs for all potential victims or victims in accommodation or outreach which takes place within the first month and is routinely reviewed in light of changes to the victim’s circumstances and/or at least once a month
• Needs Assessment: an assessment for all potential victims which will identify the support required to address their needs at the Reasonable Grounds stage, during their time in support, and when they come to the end of their relevant period and upon exit from support. Need should be routinely reviewed in light of changes to the victim’s circumstances and/or at least once a month. This assessment can also be carried out when re-entry into SAVTS support is being considered.

If at any point the support worker believes the potential victim or victim may be an adult at risk of harm, an Adult Support and Protection referral to the relevant local authority should be made to ensure adult safeguarding procedures are followed as appropriate and according to The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007. Adults who are victims of or are potential victims of trafficking and exploitation may be experiencing or at risk of experiencing violence against women and girls, alcohol and drug related harms or mental health issues. It is vital therefore that a public protection lens is applied to risk and needs assessment to ensure that victims receive support from an integrated, person-centred system where services are co-ordinated. Service providers must therefore consider whether there is a need to engage with Adult Support and Protection, specialist alcohol and drug and other wrap-around services, and suicide prevention.

5.4 Recovery journey

General principle

SAVTS is aimed at providing safety and support in emergency situations and for the immediate needs of individual survivors as well as to support them to recovery. The support is not intended to be a substitute for other, more long-term forms of support for victims, for example accommodation and entitlements provided by local authorities or other statutory organisations. SAVTS should not prevent victims from accessing support they would otherwise be entitled to receive. Other long-term support options should be pursued where they are available and able to meet the victim’s needs. SAVTS providers delivering support under the 2015 Act will thus provide information and signposting to victims, and may be able to facilitate access to statutory and non-statutory services, including services that may provide longer-term support.

Recovery plan

Each victim is entitled to their own specific recovery plan which will be based on information obtained from regular needs and risk assessments (see section 5.3) and will include details of the support put in place by SAVTS providers and others. The recovery plan will be updated by caseworkers from the SAVTS providers on at least a monthly basis.

When a victim moves on from the emergency accommodation delivered by SAVTS providers under the 2015 Act, the caseworker will discuss information about move-on and outreach support with the victim to ensure continuity of support. Please see sections 6.8 and 6.9 for further information.

5.5 Standards and quality of support provided to victims

The Scottish Government will require SAVTS providers under the 2015 Act to have due regard to The Slavery and Trafficking Survivor Care Standards when providing support to adult victims of trafficking and exploitation.

SAVTS providers will be responsible for establishing an internal quality assurance process to ensure a quality service is being delivered at the required standard to victims of human trafficking.