Vulnerable women are being sexually exploited in almost every Scottish town, according to a Scottish Government-backed anti-trafficking group.

According to Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA), gangs are moving beyond major cities to set up brothels in more rural areas.

The group have seen a surge in the number of women who identified as new victims of sexual exploitation between April 2018 and March 2019.

In total, 44 women were helped by trained counsellors, a rise of 42% on the previous 12 months and many of the women said they’ve been forced into prostitution and their services had been advertised online.

Human Trafficking in Scotland

The latest National Crime Agency (NCA) figures show that in the first three months of 2019, 82 men and women were found to be in modern slavery, compared with 53 during the same period last year – an increase of almost 40%.

Sexual exploitation is one of the main forms of human trafficking, along with domestic servitude and forced labour.

Victims found in almost 30 Scottish towns and cities

According to TARA, victims were found in almost 30 towns, including Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Inverness. Victims were also found in Fort William, Larkhall and Annan.

Traffickers accused of using community website to sell victims

An investigation by the Sunday Mail suggests human traffickers operating in Scotland have been using the UK’s largest classified adverts website, Vivastreet to sell people for sexual exploitation.

The investigation found four girls, suspected of being trafficked all operating under the same handle on vivastreet.co.uk.

According to the NCA, there are about 7,500 websites in Britain where sex is advertised. It is not currently illegal for websites like Vivastreet to carry adverts for prostitution.

Why the law needs to change

It’s hard to imagine, but human trafficking is a tragic reality across the United Kingdom. According to the Walk Free Foundation, the UK has an estimated 136,000 people trapped in some form of modern slavery. Whether its forced labour, domestic servitude or sexual exploitation, modern slavery robs human beings of their dignity by treating them as mere commodities.

The evidence above of sexual exploitation in Scotland and the use of the world’s ninth biggest website, Vivastreet to advertise women for exploitation is further evidence of why the law needs to change.

CARE would like to see laws introduced to criminalise the purchase of sex and we have previously called for prostitution advertising to be banned.