Sold for Sex: Human Trafficking in the UK
10th January 2020
By Khudayja Datoo
“I was taken to the North of England and the ‘repayments’ began. I was forced to sleep with men who regularly came to the house. I asked my Auntie when I would be able to start training to become a doctor, but she told me this was now my life. The house was comfortable, but this was added to my debt that I had to repay. On many occasions I became pregnant. When I did, my Auntie would give me strong medicines, along with a lot of alcohol and use a metal hanger to remove the foetus. This procedure was added to the debt I was told I owed. I didn’t understand at the time how bad this situation was as my Auntie was the only person who had ever shown care and affection towards me.”
Excerpt from Agnes’ experience of being trafficked*
Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery which involves recruitment and/or transportation of people into a situation of exploitation through the use of violence or coercion. Exploitation can take the form of forced labour, sexual abuse, forced criminality and organ harvesting.
The number of human trafficking cases in the UK has shockingly risen in the past five years. The Government’s Annual Report on Modern Slavery (2019) stated that the National Referral Mechanism (the UK’s identification and support system for victims of modern slavery) received referrals of 6,985 potential victims** in 2018, of whom 45% were children. Labour exploitation was found to be most commonly reported followed by sexual exploitation by both adult and child victims.
Traffickers use manipulation to coerce victims into something against their will. Whilst physical violence is a major tactic in ensuring adherence, non-physical methods are used to psychologically ensnare an individual.
Dehumanisation: Victims are repeatedly told they are worthless, they cannot do anything in the foreign land without their passport/documents, and that they need the help of the traffickers. This type of repeated psychological abuse affects one’s self esteem and, as a result, victims are often led to believe they are worthless.
Instilling false hope: Many victims may maintain silence over their suffering because the traffickers give them a timeline to their servitude e.g. 5 years of forced labour and then they would be ‘freed’. Often this acts as a daily hope to remain in their situation because of the hope of ending it all one day. When the ‘promised end’ arrives, often the traffickers invent new timelines or debts that need to be repaid and the cycle may continue.
Threats: Instilling fear of the worst-case scenario is gripping for victims. Be it a threat of framing and arresting the victim or a threat of worsening conditions, traffickers use threats to manipulate and control the actions of the victims. An arrest or label would bring shame to the family of the victim and hence this is used to the advantage of the trafficker by threatening to spread rumours of criminal offence or prostitution.
Such psychological manipulations often result in the victims abiding by the demands of the traffickers and not seeking help. By understanding how these strategies affect victims of human trafficking, we may have better knowledge of identifying and helping them.
Get in the know: The Modern Slavery Helpline outlines how to identify signs of exploitation here: https://www.modernslaveryhelpline.org/about/spot-the-signs.
Given the horrendous abuse and maltreatment, it is no surprise that the victims often experience severe mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal ideation and eating disorders alongside an array of symptoms. Secondary mental health services have also reported cases of schizophrenia and psychotic disorders. Victims may struggle with managing and expressing their emotional states (Clawson et al., 2009), they may turn to impulsive behaviours as coping strategies such as self-harm and substance abuse, and may have difficulties forming and maintaining relationships by avoiding social contact and rejecting others (Hopper, 2017).
Whilst a survivor may have escaped from the abuse, the trauma continues to live; it is of utmost importance to facilitate appropriate psychosocial support so that the victims are able to recover and build their lives up again. Cognitive strategies may take the form of evidence-based therapy such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (CF-CBT), eye movement desensitisation and re-processing (EMDR) and cognitive processing therapy (CPT), with a view to changing maladaptive thoughts about the self, others and the future, and lessoning the impact of traumatic thoughts and memories.
If you need help, or think someone may be a victim of exploitation, please seek help and advice from:
• Unseen: https://www.unseenuk.org/
• UK Modern Slavery Helpline: https://www.modernslaveryhelpline.org/
• NSPCC: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-you-can-do/report-abuse/
*Read Agnes’ story, and the stories of other victims, here: http://city-hearts.co.uk/aboutus/stories?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIh8-66vyv5gIVA7TtCh2P9QYnEAAYAiAAEgLzq_D_BwE
**The report uses the phrase ‘potential victims’ to refer to an individual who has been identified as a potential victim of modern slavery but does not indicate the outcome of a decision which may or may not confirm their victim status.
References
Clawson, H. J., Dutch, N., Solomon, A., & Grace, L. G. (2009). Human trafficking into and within the United States: A review of the literature. Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, US Department of Human and Heath Services. Retrieved December, 25, 2009.
HM Government (2019). 2019 UK Annual Report on Modern Slavery.
Hopper, E. K. (2017). Trauma-informed psychological assessment of human trafficking survivors. Women & Therapy, 40(1-2), 12-30.