Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure victims of sex trafficking are adequately safeguarded from being trafficked in the future.

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has set out a mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all the levers available to us to deliver this ambition.

The Government is working closely with law enforcement to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through law enforcement activity aimed at tackling modern slavery threats and targeting prolific perpetrators. We will also work closely with the voluntary and community sector to help sexually exploited people and ensure that those who want to exit prostitution are able to.

To support victims to escape and recover from their exploitation, the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract provides support to adult potential and confirmed victims of exploitation and trafficking in England and Wales. This support includes safe accommodation where necessary, financial support and a support worker to help them access wider support services, including medical treatment, legal aid, legal representatives, and legal advice.

The Home Office is also providing £475,000 to Changing Lives from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, to address the current gaps in evidence around the levels and types of online abuse and exploitation that are happening, and to help us better understand the pathways that are needed to improve support.

We recently ran a public Call for Evidence on how the Government can improve the process of identifying victims of modern slavery, including for victims who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation. Following analysis of the responses from this Call for Evidence, we will consider whether any future policy changes are needed.