Crime Reduction Toolkits

Trafficking of People

Others, incl. Health and local authorities

Health agencies will be involved with the provision of appropriate medical support to victims.  

In addition, hospitals and clinics, especially those concerned with obstetrics, gynaecology or sexual health, and A&E, may encounter victims of sexual exploitation.  Their wider responsibilities could therefore include advising victims on how to seek help, and contributing to inter-agency networks seeking to address the issue. 

Organisations concerned with advocacy for women and girls on health issues, including those of HIV and AIDS may be well placed to advocate for victims and potential victims of this type of exploitation.  

Refugee organisations may come in contact with suspected trafficking victims but not know how to help them. They need to be informed of appropriate contacts and should take responsibility for referring victims on to these contacts. 

Local authorities will be involved in the provision of services relating to housing and safe accommodation. They may also be best placed to help with interpreters. In some areas local authorities have responsibility for granting ‘special treatment licences’ (in effect licensing off-street prostitution) and should be involved with the monitoring of the businesses involved. 

Local authorities will also be involved at a strategic level through their crime reduction initiatives. This should provide a local priority to the issue. 

Accommodation providers who provide bed and breakfast accommodation on behalf of local authorities for unaccompanied children and young people seeking asylum, or children separated from their parents, may identify children at risk of exploitation or those already victimised. 

Specialist housing providers may be able to identify and advocate for victims, e.g. shelters for women escaping abusive and violent relationships. 

Local Trade Unions may be able to assist by identifying labour law infringements and possibly trafficked workers, as well as providing guidance to their members on relevant employment law and codes of practice[1]. 

The road haulage industry, nationally and internationally, have been helpful in the past in helping law enforcement agencies to identify trafficked people.