Half Of Trafficked Sex Workers Are Chinese

Half Of Trafficked Sex Workers Are Chinese
Share Share Comments (30)8:15pm UK, Wednesday August 18, 2010

Tom Parmenter, Sky News correspondent

Half of all women trafficked into the UK and forced to work in the sex industry are Chinese, according to senior police officers.
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Research found 17,000 of the 30,000 women involved in the off-street sex trade are migrants, including many from China, Thailand and Eastern Europe.

Police found at least 2,600 of these are working in off-street prostitution after getting into the country illegally.

Project Acumen also shows that beyond that number, 9,600 sex workers are classed as "vulnerable migrants".

The authors claim the report entitled Setting The Record has for the first time given an accurate picture of human trafficking in England and Wales.

Some of those forced to sell their bodies are made to pay off bonds of up to £30,000 by criminal gangs responsible for the multi-million pound underground trade.

The report was co-ordinated over 12 months by a team in south-west England, supported by the Metropolitan Police.

Investigators interviewed over 200 women to find out more about their circumstances.

The largest number of brothels was found in London (2,103), followed by Yorkshire and the Humber (534), the South East (426) and the West Midlands (342).



Report says 2,600 women are trafficked into the UK sex trade


Speaking about the investigation, Deputy Chief Constable Chris Eyre from ACPO told Sky News: "It's enlightened us in terms of the problems that are associated with the Chinese community and some vulnerabilities that were there.

"We've seen for a while an increase in the number of south-east Asians that have been identified as women being trafficked into the UK.

"It has been a significant proportion of the number that have been identified through the research, so it has enlightened us in terms of what faces Chinese women who are trafficked.

"There is a great deal of work going on between the UK and Chinese governments, and there is also a great deal going on through law enforcement to make sure those women who are vulnerable in this respect are protected and supported."

Immigration Minister Damian Green MP said: "Having any number of people trafficked into the UK is unacceptable.

"Therefore it is vital that we use Acumen to re-focus our efforts both at targeting the criminal gangs that trade in this human misery and in helping victims escape and recover from their ordeal."

But a leading charity working with the victims of the trade has said the figures released are only a minimum and may in fact be even higher.