Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle organised sexual exploitation.

The Government’s focus remains on protecting those selling sex from harm and enabling the police to target those who exploit vulnerable people involved in prostitution. To this end, the Government has provided over £2m to organisations supporting those involved in prostitution and sex work, including £650,000 from the Violence Against Women and Girls Service Transformation Fund to Merseyside PCC, to provide a victim-focused service for sex workers who are victims, or at risk of sexual or domestic violence and abuse, exploitation or human trafficking.

The Government recognises the need for research on the nature and prevalence of prostitution before we consider any changes to underlying legislation and policy and have committed £150,000 to fund a research project being undertaken by the University of Bristol.

To support the police to tackle organised sex-trafficking and other forms of modern slavery, the Government has provided £8.5m of additional funding to the police in England and Wales to provide bespoke and dedicated modern slavery capabilities. This police activity is supported at a national level by the National Crime Agency who lead multiagency operations to target key thematic slavery and trafficking threats including organised sexual exploitation.