Eighty-four women forced into prostitution in Scotland as sex traffickers evade travel ban

pEighty-four vulnerable woman were trafficked into Scotland and forced into a data-content-type=section-topic data-link-tracking=InArticle|Link href=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/all-about/prostitutionprostitution/a despite the #xAD;lockdown restrictions./p pA senior police officer has told the Record that a data-content-type=section-topic data-link-tracking=InArticle|Link href=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/all-about/sex-crimesex #xAD;traffickers/a have remained a #x201C;significant threat#x201D; in the country during the pandemic./p pa data-content-type=section-topic data-link-tracking=InArticle|Link href=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/all-about/police-scotlandPolice Scotland/a identified 84 sexually exploited victims in the past nine months but have warned the true scale of the problem will be much worse./p p/ p/ pDetective Superintendent Fil Capaldi, head of Police Scotland#x2019;s National Human Trafficking Unit said: #x201C;These are the ones we know of. There are more victims of trafficking out there that we don#x2019;t know./p p#x201C;People must understand this here and now. Slavery is not a thing of the past, it#x2019;s happening in every local authority throughout #xAD;Scotland.#x201D; Police investigations of potential traffickers found there had been no dip in the trading of vulnerable women./p pHe said: #x201C;Sexual #xAD;exploitation of these women is still very much there. #xAD;Traffickers have still been open for business throughout Covid and continue to be a #xAD;significant threat./p p#x201C;From our experience, the demand hasn#x2019;t dropped. In our inquiries around sexual #xAD;exploitation, we saw there was no let up on transactions.#x201D;/p pNot all 84 women were exploited in Scotland but most had been in the UK and were being moved across the country. In 2019, 114 sex trafficked women were identified./p p/ pCapaldi said: #x201C;When #xAD;international borders open up again, we will see a spike in trafficking. The routes will open up again and we will see an influx of people coming to our attention as a result.#x201D;/p pAnd he said Covid rules may have helped the traffickers keep their vile trade hidden./p pHe said: #x201C;People haven#x2019;t been as visible. If the movement of victims was restricted in the first place, then they have been doubly restricted by the Covid measures of lockdown.#x201D;/p pSexual exploitation is highly lucrative for gangs, who can potentially make millions./p pRecent police investigations document hundreds of #xAD;thousands of pounds moving between bank accounts, with women being sold to punters for about #xA3;120 an hour. But the women will see a tiny fraction of that money, if any at all./p p/ pFour people were jailed for a total of more than 36 years in 2018 for the trafficking and #xAD;exploitation of 10 victims for sexual exploitation and sham marriages in Scotland. One victim was sold on a street in Glasgow for about #xA3;10,000./p pLast week, two people were arrested who were sexually exploiting about a dozen #xAD;trafficked women./p pCapaldi said Adult Services websites have continued to profit from the women#x2019;s misery./p pHe said: #x201C;There were still men buying sex online and we haven#x2019;t seen a drop off in that./p p#x201C;The websites are the most significant enablers of sexual exploitation linked to #xAD;trafficking in the UK.#x201D;/p p/ pIn the six months to October, the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (Tara) was supporting 73 sex trafficking victims, 38 of whom had been newly referred since April./p pThe organisation, which supports victims, had been prepared for an influx of #xAD;referrals during Covid if the demand for women dropped, rendering them no longer #xAD;profitable. Tara operations manager Bronagh Andrew said the spike didn#x2019;t arise because punters ignored the risks./p pShe said: #x201C;Trafficked women continue to be exploited and Covid hasn#x2019;t stopped that demand.#x201D;/p pNumbers of referrals to Tara continue to rise each year./p pThe service was accessed by 59 new victims to March 2020, up from 44 last year, and it supported 114 women compared to 83 in 2018/19./p pIt comes amid the national campaign of 16 days to end violence against women, which began last Wednesday, UN International Day of #xAD;Elimination of Violence Against Women./p pAnyone concerned about modern slavery can contact police on 101, the Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700 or download their Unseen reporting app./p