The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is working to improve the number of prosecutions, and the number of offences prosecuted under human trafficking legislation is increasing year on year. The number of prosecutions should also increase further as a result of our ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in December 2008. The Convention will assist investigations and provide support for victims of trafficking in the course of criminal proceedings.
The records held at discrete offence level by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of offences of trafficking into the United Kingdom for sexual exploitation in which a prosecution commenced, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted. During the four years for which figures are available the number of these offences was as follows:
Number 2005 9 2006 7 2007 30 2008 54