Abstract
The UK is primarily a destination country for trafficking victims from central and southeastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. There have also been cases in which the UK was a transit and source country for trafficking victims. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an account of the financial management of the human trafficking business in the UK. It provides a general overview of the human trafficking business and discusses existing relations between the legitimate sectors and human trafficking in the UK. Moreover, it offers an account of the social organisation of human trafficking in the UK and the key actors involved before describing the financial aspects of human trafficking in terms of sources of financing, settlement of payments, costs of business, as well as profits, profits spending and investment. Finally, it examines the role of the internet in the human trafficking business and its finances.
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Notes
- 1.
“The National Referral Mechanism is a framework for identifying victims of human trafficking or modern slavery and ensuring they receive the appropriate support. The NRM is also the mechanism through which the Modern Slavery Human Trafficking Unit (MSHTU) collects data about victims. This information contributes to building a clearer picture about the scope of human trafficking and modern slavery in the UK . The NRM was introduced in 2009 to meet the UK’s obligations under the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. At the core of the NRM is the process of locating and identifying “potential victims of trafficking” ” (NCA 2017b). To be referred into the NRM, potential victims must be referred by an authorised agency, known as the “first responder” (police, border force, GLA, local authorities, specific NGOs) to a “competent authority” (the UKHTC or Home Office Immigration and Visas—where trafficking may be an issue as part of an asylum claim).
- 2.
In addition, there is no link between these referrals, and arrests and convictions.
- 3.
“Modern slavery” was introduced as a separate crime recording category in April 2015.
- 4.
The number of sex workers in the UK is estimated to be around 72,800 with about 32,000 working in London. The EU enlargement of 2004 and 2007 had a remarkable impact on the nationalities of migrants working in prostitution in the UK (TAMPEP Network 2009). According to the Sex Work Research Hub, street-based sex workers comprise just over 25% of sex workers in the UK, with the remainder working in diverse indoor settings (cited in House of Commons—Home Affairs Committee 2016: 10).
- 5.
In many cases, the two forms of exploitation coincide. For example, sexual intercourse with a (trafficked) woman many times, and specifically in public and legitimate locations such as massage parlours, spas and strip clubs involves the provision of non-sexual services, e.g. a massage, a dance, serving clients, etc.
- 6.
At this point it should be mentioned that an individual may be recorded as a “victim of labour exploitation ” although no information is provided about the sector or type of exploitation. As such, someone may be recorded as a victim of labour exploitation whether s/he is exploited in a farm, a construction site and a factory or through begging and forcing them into participating in criminal activities (e.g. cannabis farms) (see NCA 2015).
- 7.
2007 for Romania and Bulgaria .
- 8.
The visa waiver for the new accession states practically reduced all costs related to documents for travel to zero. These costs, however, remain relevant for traffickers from other source regions—former Soviet countries, Western Balkans, Africa, Asia, etc. According to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX), in 2016 the most frequently identified forged travel documents at external borders are those of Poland, Italy , Spain, and France (FRONTEX 2017).
- 9.
The interviewee did not provide amounts that had been invested in the surgeries. However, a rudimentary examination of prices in UK private surgeries price lists revealed that the average rhinoplasty costs approximately £3000 and a breast surgery approximately £2500.
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Antonopoulos, G.A., Di Nicola, A., Rusev, A., Terenghi, F. (2019). Human Trafficking and Its Financial Management in the United Kingdom. In: Human Trafficking Finances. SpringerBriefs in Criminology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17809-3_3
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