Police to target trafficking in sex workers (Roundup)

By Rich Bowden, M&C Staff Writer Oct 3, 2007, 15:17 GMT

A crackdown on trafficking sex workers into Britain has been announced today by police chiefs and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. EPA/TOUSSAINT KLUITERS

(M&C) - A crackdown on trafficking sex workers into Britain has been announced today by police chiefs and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

The drive, which is to be led by the Association of Chief Police Officers will aim to seize assets and disrupt the operations of gangs involved in smuggling women into Britain to work in the sex trade.

The drive will also aim to raise awareness of the problem in the community.

Speaking to the BBC, Assistant Chief Constable John Malcolm of Strathclyde Police, who has been appointed to lead the operation on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos), said, "The trafficking of human beings is a form of slavery and will not be tolerated in a civilised modern society."

"Many people suffer abuse at the hands of those who have brought them to this country and are forced to engage in the sex industry to pay for food and shelter."

The Chief Constable of Gloucestershire, Tim Brain, who leads the counter trafficking operation, said to reporters, "It is particularly apt that we are now launching a fresh campaign to combat trafficking in this the 200th year since Parliament passed the Act to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire."

"It is clear that slavery still exists. Individuals are still being brought into this country, moved across borders within the UK against their will, and being forced into servitude."

The operation, known as Pentameter II follows on from initial work last year which freed 90 victims from 22 countries, and resulted in 232 arrests.