Human Trafficking: Cambridgeshire

The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery; ensuring that victims are provided with the support they need to begin rebuilding their lives and that perpetrators are prosecuted and punished.

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 gives law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle modern slavery, including potential maximum sentences of life imprisonment for perpetrators and specific support and protection for victims, including children. The Home Office has provided over £19 million of dedicated funding to the police since 2016, to improve national policing capabilities to identify victims and to investigate offenders to bring them to justice.

The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the UK's framework for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. The table below shows the number of NRM referrals where Cambridgeshire Constabulary were the police force responsible for investigation for individuals that were under 18 at the time of referral. This data is available up to 2016.

The identification of a child who is a potential victim of modern slavery, or is at risk of being a victim, should always trigger the agreed local child protection procedures to ensure the child's safety and welfare, and to enable the police to gather evidence about abusers and coercers.